ABSTRACT
This chapter presents two strategies to cope with the poverty of opportunity and the poverty of interest in foreign language learning. The first strategy, a language assistant program, in which Japanese study abroad students and advanced American learners of Japanese were recruited to be language assistants for Japanese classes, was integrated into all Japanese language classes at UNC Charlotte to provide American learners of Japanese with opportunities to communicate with native speakers. Language assistants helped instructors and students both in and outside of their assigned classes, and survey results suggest that it was well accepted by all of the participants involved in the program, that is, the language assistants, learners and instructors. The second strategy, a peer tutoring program, was created to provide special assistance to particular students in language classes who were in danger of withdrawing or receiving a failing grade. The peer tutor program was implemented in the Japanese program at UNC Charlotte, organized every semester and carried out to decrease attrition rates. Practical advice for foreign language educators seeking to create similar programs at their own institutions is also given.
