AbstractLanguage program articulation presents ongoing challenges to educators, in part because the descriptive nature of much of the published work is not sufficiently generalizable to the variety of contexts in which articulation must occur. As such, this chapter addresses the issue of foreign language (FL) curriculum
articulation using Theory of Constraints (TOC) Thinking Process logic and tools, which offer a generalizable, process-focused alternative to previous approaches to articulation.This business-oriented model of organizational problem solving has the potential to develop effective solutions to the challenges of FL program articulation, while facilitating communication, collaboration, and
agreement among participants. To introduce the reader to the TOC Thinking Process and facilitate the understanding of each tool, the key elements of this theory are summarized. Next, the TOC Thinking Process tools are applied to the Wayne State University undergraduate Spanish program. Implications for
improvements to articulation and for the language program director emerge as
a result of this case analysis. A discussion of the use of the TOC Thinking Process as a theoretical model of articulation, generalizable across language programs, concludes the chapter.
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