Outlines a project for setting up bilingual schools for Italian children in Switzerland and Germany and discusses the advantages of doing so. (CFM)

In 1973 a commission of the FMF (Modern Foreign Language League, Federal Republic of Germany) published a proposal for a taxonomy of activity characteristics of the FL teacher. Kurt Otten criticized this proposal in the weekly "Die Zeit" (19 April 1974). Here, members of the FMF commission reject four of Otten's assertions. (Text is in…

A poll of the various West German state Culture Ministries revealed that 24,000 students in Grade 5 were taking French as their first foreign language; 14,000 took French in the primary schools (first four grades). The report is helpful in considering further FL offerings. (Text is in German.) (IFS/WGA)

French enrollments are losing ground in all regions of West Germany. It is suggested that emphasis should be placed on French as a second foreign language, after English. Various aspects of the situation in schools and universities are discussed. (Text is in German.) (IFS/WGA)

In recent years, the amount of time allotted to foreign language teaching has tended to even up in the various types of schools in West Germany. The Hauptschulen (grade 9 "terminal" schools) have shown a marked increase, the Realschulen (secondary schools) some increase, and the Gymnasien (university-preparatory) a decrease. (IFS/WGA)

Two articles discuss educational policy in Germany regarding foriegn language teaching. One pleads for giving French a fair chance along with English. The other agrees that no one language should be favored, and says that the whole question needs thorough consideration and that adequate planning is required. (IFS/WGA)

This report discusses a program designed to teach English to German children in Munich, Germany. (CFM)

German studies have expanded in the last 25 years in Australia. In 1974 the Goethe Institute conducted developmental conferences for German teachers, in cooperation with Australian universities and school authorities. Twelve universities have fully developed Germanistic Institutes. The Australian government has subsidized increasing numbers of…

There are excellent materials available from the German government which would be useful in the awareness and exploratory stages of career education in German classes. The German government has also produced pamphlets on career opportunities for the handicapped. (SW)

"Oral skills" are defined in detail. A survey is given of the kinds of oral skills which should be taught in foreign language courses, with some discussion of appropriate methods. (Text is in German.) (IFS/WGA)

Examines the lack of consistency in the elementary level second language education system in West Germany, and makes suggestions for improvement. (AM)

Examines the trend in Germany, away from a strict avoidance of the mother tongue in second language instruction. (AM)

Gives lists, under the names of the various states of the Federal Republic of Germany, of the most important state institutions and publications concerned with curricula, chiefly in English and French, but also in Spanish, Italian, Russian and Dutch. (Text is in German.) (IFS/WGA)

Discusses the foreign language situation in the Hauptschulen (ninth-grade "terminal" schools) of Lower Saxony, including the serious problems to be found there. The instructional pattern is defended. It is argued that foreign language study should be obligatory, and that English should not drop to subordinate status. (IFS/WGA)

Discusses recent studies giving conflicting answers, mostly unfavorable, to the question of whether the language laboratory is effective. Also, it is argued that children learn their native language by a process very different from foreign language learning and that research on the stages of language learning is urgently needed. (WGA)