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transition from high school to college is a defining element of any Russian
curriculum in these two educational settings.
Other trends. Perhaps the most important developmentin foreign language
instruction in the past two decades has been the proficiency movement17. As a
reaction against grammar-based instruction, it has engendered a varietyof
responses in colleges and universities, but has by now become a substantial
part of the foundation of foreign language pedagogy. It is now a given that
language programs seek to foster proficiency, although the means to this end
are still quite varied.
A more recent focus in the profession is content-based instruction18. Just
as the proficiency movement can be understood as a reaction to grammar-
based instruction, content-based instruction can be seen as a response to the
presupposition that students cannot do anything useful with language until after
the basics have been nearly mastered. Perhaps a hybrid result of the profes-
sion's interest in proficiency and institutional interest in area and interdisciplin-
ary studies, this development in foreign language pedagogy presents interest-
ing options particularly for the advanced levels of language instruction
(although for those committed to the approach, it can be employed in the
earliest courses).
Technology has become a watchword in education. Computer-aided
instruction has played a growing role in language instruction, and its
significance in the coming years can only be expected to increase. Initial over-
optimism about the possibilities afforded by the computer have now been
scaled back to more appropriate levels as language teachers realize that
authoring software is, nonetheless, authoring. Any work on curriculum design
will need to recognize the need for CAI as part of the instructional plans. And
ultimately, if technology lives up to even some of its promise, the entire nature of
teaching and class time may be reconfigured.
Russian language study in the US: Facing three new revolutions
Since the launching of Sputnik, enrollments in Russian have been
subject to cycles little connected with the quality and capacity of the profession
to provide instruction. For the duration of the Cold War, federal support for
Russian language programs helped maintain the awareness that the learning of
Russian corresponded to a real national need, in this case predominantly a
security need. Since the fall of the Soviet Union, unfortunately, there has been
no focal activity or organization to help underscore the newcommercial needs.
The effect on enrollments has been devastating. Ironically, the drop in
enrollments comes as a time when the generation of teachers is seeing its first
surge in non-governmental demand for professionals with knowledge of Russia
and Russian.
17Omaggio
18Cite Leaver et al.
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