Abridged version of lecture presented at an in-service training course sponsored by the Modern Language Teachers' Association (Australia) at Hobart, Australia, July 13-14, 1972. (DS)

IF STATISTICS WERE AVAILABLE ON THE DROPOUT RATE AND UNSATISFACTORY ACHIEVEMENT OF COLLEGE STUDENTS TAKING RUSSIAN, THEY WOULD PROBABLY SUPPORT THE WIDELY HELD OPINION THAT RUSSIAN IS DIFFICULT. THE DIFFICULTY IS ATTRIBUTABLE LARGELY TO THE FACT THAT RUSSIAN IS NEITHER A GERMANIC NOR A ROMANCE LANGUAGE, AND STUDENTS THUS FIND IT HARD TO RECOGNIZE…

This study evaluates the counseling-learning approach to foreign language instruction as compared with traditional methods in terms of language achievement and change in personal orientation and in attitude toward learning. Twelve students volunteered to learn Spanish or German under simultaneous exposure to both languages using the…

DESPITE RENEWED INTEREST IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING, THE COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM IS THE WEAKEST LINK IN A CHAIN OF INSTRUCTION EXTENDING FROM THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL THROUGH THE POST-DOCTORAL LEVEL. IMPROVEMENT OF UNDERGRADUATE FOREIGN LANGUAGE INSTRUCTION IS IN PART CONTINGENT UPON A REAPPRAISAL BY THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF ITS…

Language instruction for business students at Nijenrode College, Holland, is the focus of this article. The basic philosophy and development of the program currently offered are aimed at improving better coordination among departments in order to provide students with an integrated set of faculties which will qualify them to perform the functions…

GREAT BRITAIN'S LANGUAGE TEACHING PROFESSION HAS BECOME INVOLVED IN RESOLVING THE NEW DEMANDS PUT ON THE PROFESSION BY THE GREAT SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC CHANGES OF THE PAST 25 YEARS. THE FIRST OF THE TWO MAIN TRENDS OF THIS REVOLUTION CONCERNS ORGANIZATION. MOST RADICAL AMONG THE CHANGES IN THIS AREA HAVE BEEN (1) THE DEVELOPMENT, IN THE NEW…

A university professor examines attitudes and theories relating to foreign language teaching commonly accepted by instructors and students in U.S. high schools and universities. The author attempts to distinguish the factual from the legendary, or the folklore as he refers to it, in such areas as the audiolingual approach, selection of textbooks,…

Data to be used for evaluating university foreign language departmental practices in the oral aspects of language usage were gathered from questionnaire responses. The study was limited to undergraduate programs in French and Spanish and involved data from 155 department heads. A list of items studied and their mean importance ratings is provided.…

Results of the professional preparation sections of the Modern Language Association (MLA) Cooperative Foreign Language Tests coupled with the findings of National Defense Education Act (NDEA) Institutes provide most of the background for these implications. Teacher ability to detect error in written and oral work and the correlation of language…

The article outlines foreign language goals, identifying specific linguistic aims and indicating major factors responsible for student incompetency in language skills. The teacher shortage, the frequent lack of program coordination and articulation, professional disunity, and time limitations are briefly discussed. The need for paying more serious…

This brief review of research in foreign language instruction during 1961-63 summarizes, compares, and interprets related studies dealing withsuch topics as (1) the effects and value of foreign language instruction at different educational levels, (2) methods and materials, (3) testing, and (4) electromechanical aids, such as the language…

The 62 selections in this volume, all written since 1963, describe the latest developments in modern language teaching at both the elementary and secondary school level. The book is designed for both preservice and inservice personnel. Individual chapters include essays on the trends and issues and the linguistic, psychological and organizational…

A compilation of 90 abstracts describes research and experimental teaching using television and film methods in foreign language instruction. The studies cover (1) a comparison of televised instruction with face-to-face presentation, (2) a comparison of filmed or kinescoped courses with direct instruction, (3) other uses of television and film…