The instability of several elements of the French vocalic system requires that instructors make phonetic distinctions early on about the phonemes, often grouped under an archiphoneme, which may be realized differently in speech. /E/ and /EU/ are given as examples. (Text is in French.) (MSE)

Discusses diversity which has arisen in testing of productive skills at GCE O level. Criteria to apply in assessment of foreign language acquisition, and writing and speaking tests in particular, are discussed, as well as the weighting of writing and speaking at O level. (RM)

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

The contrasting views of Saussure and Bloomfield ("mentalist" versus "mechanist"), the hypotheses of Whorf showing the influence of language on certain habits of thought, and Chomsky's notion of generative transformational grammar in the context of language use are reviewed. The author notes the limits of these systems and suggests that in dealing…

Discusses the teaching of language for use in practical situations, i.e., using language in various communication contexts. (DD)

Describes analysis made of the results of candidates in 1973 Mode 1 examination in French of the North Western Secondary School Examinations Board which showed that less able language students performed disproportionately badly on tests of written self-expression. Implications for teacher and examiner are discussed. (RM)

Paper presented May 1973, Dresden, East Germany. (DD)

A study examines the relationship among the variables of practice, instruction and performance of adult learners of English as a second language. It is concluded that formal instruction is the most important determinant of student performance at intermediate and advanced levels because it provides a structural environment for feedback. (Author/RM)

The first "missing link is that between the linguist's rules and the rule component of performance; the second is between a student's competence as expressed in correct performance in the controlled language learning situation and spontaneous performance where selection of language is involved. (Author/FWB)

The conditions whereby a concept might be learned on the basis of a language mediation process prior to the inductive learning of subordinate concepts are sketched. The view is expressed that grammar treatments which are apt to primary education should be defined on the basis of a pedagogy's needs for linguistic characterizations of concepts to be…

An experiment was conducted to test the hypothesis that students who can verbalize the rules governing such structures as the "ser/estar" dichotomy will be superior in the correct use of the structures. Ss were 50 English-speaking students of first-semester college Spanish. The hypothesis was confirmed. (RM)