Developing Professional-Level Language Proficiency

Developing Professional-Level Language Proficiency
Author: Betty Lou Leaver
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 328
Release: 2002-09-26
Genre: Foreign Language Study
ISBN: 9780521016858

This 2002 book examines approaches to teaching students making the transition from 'advanced' or 'superior' proficiency in a foreign language to 'near-native' ability.

To Advanced Proficiency and Beyond

To Advanced Proficiency and Beyond
Author: Newel Anthony Brown
Publisher: Georgetown University Press
Total Pages: 249
Release: 2015-01-02
Genre: Foreign Language Study
ISBN: 1626161739

Due to the pressures of globalization, American society increasingly needs citizens who can carry out Superior level functions in languages other than English. Instructors, researchers, and students of second language acquisition seek scholarly resources to help satisfy this demand. In this volume, leading experts in second language acquisition and language planning supply cutting-edge research on working memory and cognition and empirical studies of effective teaching. The theoretical and empirical work in these pages is complemented by descriptions of successful pedagogical practices that take students from the Advanced to the Superior levels and beyond. With examples ranging across a number of languages, including Russian, Chinese, and Arabic, the volume will serve a broad audience. This practical handbook will help seasoned instructors improve outcomes, while it can also be used for training new instructors in methods courses.

Foreign Language Proficiency in Higher Education

Foreign Language Proficiency in Higher Education
Author: Paula Winke
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 314
Release: 2018-12-18
Genre: Education
ISBN: 3030010066

This volume comprises of chapters that deal with language proficiency relating to a wide range of language program issues including curriculum, assessment, learners and instructors, and skill development. The chapters cover various aspects of a broad-based proficiency initiative, focusing on numerous aspects of foreign language learning, including how skills develop, how assessments can inform curriculum, how learners and instructors view proficiency and proficiency assessment, and how individual use of technology furthers language learning. The concluding chapter points the way forward for issues and questions that need to be addressed.

Exploring the US Language Flagship Program

Exploring the US Language Flagship Program
Author: Dianna Murphy
Publisher: Multilingual Matters
Total Pages: 277
Release: 2016-11-07
Genre: Education
ISBN: 178309611X

A number of reports in the US have highlighted the country’s need for improved second language skills for both national security and economic competitiveness. The Language Flagship program, launched in 2002, aims to raise expectations regarding language proficiency levels at the post-secondary level and to address structural gaps in the curricula of many L2 programs. This federally funded program provides opportunities for US undergraduate students in any specialization to reach a professional level of competence in a targeted second language by graduation. This volume highlights innovative practices that enable students to achieve this goal – even those with no exposure to the second language prior to university. This book explores the rationale and history of the federal program and showcases models and strategies of existing Flagship programs.

To Advanced Proficiency and Beyond

To Advanced Proficiency and Beyond
Author: Tony Brown
Publisher: Georgetown University Press
Total Pages: 249
Release: 2015-02-02
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1626161747

To Advanced Proficiency and Beyond: Theory and Methods for Developing Superior Second Language Ability addresses an important issue in Second Language Acquisition—how to help learners progress from Intermediate and Advanced proficiency to Superior and beyond. Due to the pressures of globalization, American society encounters an ever-increasing demand for speakers with advanced language abilities. This volume makes available cutting edge research on working memory and cognition and empirical studies of effective teaching. In addition it can serve as a practical handbook for seasoned and pre-professional instructors alike. The bringing together of the latest in second language acquisition theory, decades of empirical research, and practical classroom application makes for an unprecedented volume examining the achievement of Superior-level foreign language proficiency.

Developing Minority Language Resources

Developing Minority Language Resources
Author: Guadalupe Valdés
Publisher: Multilingual Matters
Total Pages: 341
Release: 2006-01-01
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1853598976

This book documents ongoing language shift to English among Latino professionals in California. It then describes current instructional practices used in the teaching of Spanish as an academic subject at the high school and university levels to 'heritage' language students who, although educated entirely in English, acquired Spanish at home as a first language. It specifically examines the potential contribution of these instructional practices to the maintenance of Spanish.

Handbook for Arabic Language Teaching Professionals in the 21st Century

Handbook for Arabic Language Teaching Professionals in the 21st Century
Author: Kassem Wahba
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 658
Release: 2014-06-03
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1136781625

This landmark volume offers an introduction to the field of teaching Arabic as a foreign or second language. Recent growth in student numbers and the demand for new and more diverse Arabic language programs of instruction have created a need that has outpaced the ability of teacher preparation programs to provide sufficient numbers of well-qualified professional teachers at the level of skill required. Arabic language program administrators anticipate that the increases in enrollment will continue into the next decades. More resources and more varied materials are seriously needed in Arabic teacher education and training. The goal of this Handbook is to address that need. The most significant feature of this volume is its pioneer role in approaching the field of Arabic language teaching from many different perspectives. It offers readers the opportunity to consider the role, status, and content of Arabic language teaching in the world today. The Handbook is intended as a resource to be used in building Arabic language and teacher education programs and in guiding future academic research. Thirty-four chapters authored by leaders in the field are organized around nine themes: *Background of Arabic Language Teaching; *Contexts of Arabic Language Teaching; *Communicative Competence in Arabic; *The Learners; *Assessment; *Technology Applications; *Curriculum Development, Design, and Models; *Arabic Language Program Administration and Management; and *Planning for the Future of Arabic Language Learning and Teaching. The Handbook for Arabic Language Teaching Professionals in the 21st Century will benefit and be welcomed by Arabic language teacher educators and trainers, administrators, graduate students, and scholars around the world. It is intended to create dialogue among scholars and professionals in the field and in related fields--dialogue that will contribute to creating new models for curriculum and course design, materials and assessment tools, and ultimately, better instructional effectiveness for all Arabic learners everywhere, in both Arabic-speaking and non-Arabic speaking countries.

Chinese for Specific and Professional Purposes

Chinese for Specific and Professional Purposes
Author: Hongyin Tao
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 414
Release: 2019-08-20
Genre: Education
ISBN: 9811395055

This book, likely the first of its kind in the English language, explores Chinese for specific and professional purposes (CSP) in terms of theorizing and developing practical applications for language teaching and learning. While research in language for specific purposes is thriving for languages such as English, there has been comparatively little such research conducted for Chinese. This volume attempts to fill the gap by bringing together practitioners from a broad international scholarly community, who share common interests yet diverse orientations. Seventeen papers are included, and address four broad thematic categories: (1) academic Chinese, (2) business Chinese, (3) Chinese for medicine and health care, and (4) Chinese for other broadly defined services and industries (diplomacy, tourism, wine-tasting, etc.). Representing the state of the art in CSP research, the book offers an indispensable guide for anyone interested in theoretical and practical issues in this area of applied Chinese language studies.

A Principled Approach to Language Assessment

A Principled Approach to Language Assessment
Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 113
Release: 2020-09-19
Genre: Education
ISBN: 0309675480

The United States is formally represented around the world by approximately 14,000 Foreign Service officers and other personnel in the U.S. Department of State. Roughly one-third of them are required to be proficient in the local languages of the countries to which they are posted. To achieve this language proficiency for its staff, the State Department's Foreign Service Institute (FSI) provides intensive language instruction and assesses the proficiency of personnel before they are posted to a foreign country. The requirement for language proficiency is established in law and is incorporated in personnel decisions related to job placement, promotion, retention, and pay. A Principled Approach to Language Assessment: Considerations for the U.S. Foreign Service Institute evaluates the different approaches that exist to assess foreign language proficiency that FSI could potentially use. This report considers the key assessment approaches in the research literature that are appropriate for language testing, including, but not limited to, assessments that use task-based or performance-based approaches, adaptive online test administration, and portfolios.

Developing Advanced English Language Competence

Developing Advanced English Language Competence
Author: Armin Berger
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 369
Release: 2022-02-03
Genre: Education
ISBN: 3030792412

This volume presents a systematic approach to developing advanced English language competence at tertiary level. It includes the reflections of experienced language teachers and teacher-researchers in the English Language Competence programme at the University of Vienna and provides examples of good practice, amalgamating teaching expertise and research with aspects of curriculum design and programme management. The book addresses a growing academic and professional interest in understanding advanced language learning and use. To date, research has tended to investigate advanced proficiency from a specific theoretical viewpoint, for example cognition, psycholinguistic processing strategies, or the assumption of a critical period or the age factor. In contrast, this work examines advanced proficiency from a curricular and instructional perspective by providing a profile of advanced-level language development in a specific institutional context. It brings together three areas of language education: curriculum design, pedagogical practice, and research. Within this triangle, advanced English language education is the focus or, conversely, advanced English language education provides the lens through which links between curriculum design, teaching, and research can be established.