This paper discusses problems of intensive language instruction and suggests improvements. Discussed are daily contact time, class duration and size, student selection and program structure. (CK)

The need to teach students speaking skills in Spanish, and to choose among the many standard dialects spoken in the Hispanic world (as well as literary and colloquial speech), presents a challenge to the Spanish teacher. Some phonetic considerations helpful in solving these problems are offered. (CHK)

Discusses the distinctions that exist among the uses of "ser" and "estar" in Spanish. They are explained with reference to the semantic values present in the three basic functions of these verbs: principal, auxiliary, and attributive. (NCR)

Asserts that, if the aim of foreign language teaching is to be communicative competence, then some of the sociocultural determinants of usage of some forms should not be overlooked. The Spanish pronominal address forms, "tu" and "Ud.," are discussed as an example. (EJS)

The article compares the use of pattern drills to contextualized practice and suggests that although the second is a more personally meaningful approach, the pattern drills can provide a means through which the operations of many language features will be made more apparent to the learner. (NCR)

Examines the temporal reference of Spanish verb forms by using a simple time axis showing five points of temporal reference. (NCR)

Presidential address presented at the 55th Annual Meeting of the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese, Mexico City, Mexico, August 10, 1973. (SK)

Discusses, for the benefit of English-speaking students, the use of the article with personal titles in Spanish. (RM)