Suggests methods for helping children develop and maintain the art of conversation. (RB)

Describes techniques for achieving emotional involvement and, therefore, better results on the part of his students in an intermediate level Russian conversation course. (Text is in Russian.) (DH)

Vocabulary grouped according to subject matter is well-adapted to developing speaking competence. Even in the use of blackboard pictures for teaching vocabulary, systematic aspects should be observed. (Text is in German.) (IFS/WGA)

An after-school activity offered by the Central Institute of English Language called "Games" is described. The purpose of the activity is to stimulate and increase oral fluency and production. Several games are commented on. (RM)

By evaluating current practices and resources available to language instructors, with emphasis on oral skills, the article underlines the need for a comprehensive program for realistic conversation stimulus and offers modules as a solution. The educational, practical and economic advantages of modules and ways of making them available are…

Describes an experiment at Birkbeck College, University of London, designed to encourage the spontaneous, uninhibited use of French by students. (PMP)

A question-answer technique is described that is based on authenticity of form and content and that has applicability at virtually all levels of instruction. After automatic responses, students provide definitions, rephrase content, or express opinions in the second language. (Author/SW)

Discusses the development of the ability to speak independently through the use of exercises which progress gradually from direct external guidance through indirect external guidance to self-directed utterance. (Text is in German.) (IFS/WGA)

Second language students are often discouraged in trying to acquire oral fluency skills. Four specific problem areas are: (1) timidity; (2) listening comprehension difficulties; (3) oral reading problems; and (4) difficulty in putting sentences together. An approach that emphasizes writing skills avoids these problem areas and uses skills the…

The article shows six ways in which communicative competence can be increased. The six sections show how the foreign language student can acquire competence in expressing (as an example) the concept "irritation". For each definition of "irritation," many examples are given. (Text is in German.) (IFS/WGA)

Presents the notions that: (1) training in free expression skills in a foreign language can be systematized and integrated with the acquisition of fundamental language skills; and (2) that the principle of "re-expression" can be used by the teacher to yield "free expression" in the form of spontaneous oral summary. (AM)

"Gambits" are conversational tools for introducing what we're about to say, such as "Excuse me for interrupting, but..." A three-part textbook series for students of English as a Second Language entitled "Gambits" contains exercises for advanced students which attempt to recreate "real-life" language…

A method of testing student pronunciation involves recording a poem. Students transcribe the words they mispronounced in phonetic script and have it checked by the tutor. The phonetics tutorial is required by first-year students majoring in English who are not native speakers. (SW)