Describes the Indiana University French Communicative Ability Test, developed to test communicative ability at a relatively low level (beginning university French), and in a large, multi-section program. (AM)

Discusses strategies designed to cope with problems encountered at the college level that are caused by students' diversity in background and levels of competency. Alternatives to the lock-step method of instruction, with applicability at both the college and high school level, are described. (EJS)

Recently several persons involved with language study in the U.S.S.R. have publicly voiced concerns on the value of summer programs for American students there. The proliferation of these programs in the last ten years calls for a reexamination of what students who study in the Soviet Union are expected to achieve. By examining the expectations of…

Enrollment trends and factors that influence foreign language study in colleges and universities are discussed. Most college foreign language programs have emphasized the study of literature and have not been committed to the training of teachers or the teaching of civilization or culture. It appears that students' concern about the job market and…

The perennial problem of articulation of foreign language programs between the high schools and the colleges is readdressed in this paper. Six factors are identified as primary in contributing to the problem: (1) instruction is paced too fast, thus encouraging superficial learning and creating a disparity of coverage practices among the many…

This paper considers the problems of the second-year intermediate college language course, the principles that are fundamental to any intermediate class and observations on the content of the course. The limitations imposed by time, the scope of the subject matter, and the varied capabilities and interests of the students constitute the Special…

Discusses the process of integrating language laboratory work into the existing syllabus of language courses, using technical facilities, and a resident native speaker as a "voice" for recording material. (NCR)

This paper discusses an ongoing experiment in teaching the communicative values of intonation to second-year students in an English department at a French university. The communication needs of the learners are described in terms of academic activities (e.g., formal discussion) and social contact. A basic three-term structure -- opening,…

Language laboratories are especially neglected at the intermediate and advanced levels of foreign language learning. Teachers fail to avail themselves of an important teaching tool at a critical point, when the more mechanical aspects of assimilating the target language should give way to gaining an actual communicative competence in it. At the…

This article presents an analysis of a course in oral English created at the University of Nancy in 1974 for adult beginning students of English as a second language. The linguistic foundations of the course are discussed (verbal communication and communicative competence), as well as its psychopedagogic and pedagogic bases (cognitive approach,…

A new program developed during 1975-76 as part of the English as a second language curriculum at the University of California, Davis, is designed to enable students to listen to their oral English for pronunciation and grammatical self-correction. Students are aided in identifying and correcting their errors through tape-recorded sessions with a…

A norm-referenced evaluation system, which evaluates the student in comparison to his peers, is rejected in favor of a criterion-referenced system. The latter, which rates the performance of a student on an absolute standard, makes for an individualized approach. Two kinds of tests are distinguished, the formative, administered during the course…

This collection of articles deals with various aspects of the role of the language laboratory in language teaching, concentrating on laboratory teaching methods and materials. Topics range from evaluation of existing materials to the planning of courses and self-instruction systems, and include suggestions for the building up of a sound-library…

Communication has been accepted as an essential result of language teaching, but has been neglected as an essential component of the language teaching process. This paper suggests that teaching comprehensively for communicative competence will cater to a large extent to developing linguistic competence, whereas teaching for linguistic competence…

A description of team-teaching at the English for Overseas Students Unit (EOSU) of the University of Birmingham, by T. F. Johns and Tony Dudley-Evans, is followed by "The Current Programme of Materials Development in English for Academic Purposes (EAP) at the Universities of Birmingham and Aston" by T. F. and C. M. Johns. The…