This two-phase experiment was conducted to determine: (1) whether foreign language aptitude as measured by standard aptitude tests (Pimsleur Language Aptitude Battery, Carroll-Sapon Modern Language Aptitude Test) can be significantly increased by training, and (2) whether increases in language aptitude so obtained would result in better language…

Topics are: aspects in the systematic acquisition of firm, lasting and ready-to-use knowledge and skill as a basis of instruction; nature of language knowledge; the dialectic of knowledge acquisition and the development of skill; intensive learning; and the design of vocabulary drill units. (Text is in German.) (IFS/WGA)

This study presents an analysis of the successive steps used by Italian-speaking secondary school students to acquire mastery of the relative pronoun in standard French. This structure was chosen for study because the acquisition of the French relative pronoun is a source of difficulty for Italian learners. An analysis was made of the students…

Discusses the language laboratory as a means of developing practical abilities in a foreign language. Two topics are treated specifically: (1) the laboratory from a technical and theoretical perspective, and (2) an analysis of the language skills most effectively trained through use of the language laboratory. (AMH)

This volume presents two papers synthesizing current research in second-language acquisition and reactions to these papers from the point of view of researchers in foreign language learning. The introduction by Rosario Gingras provides an overview of the research in second-language acquisition as it applies to foreign language teaching. A…

This is an investigation of the notion of language for special purposes and a discussion of the topic from the point of view of reading comprehension and its pedagogical implications. The meanings, connotations, and inadequacies of the terms "langue de specialite" and "Language for special purposes" are discussed. A distinction is made between…

The reflections in this paper represent part of a study of disadvantaged 13 to 15 year-old children of immigrants in Switzerland. This section deals with the process of learning spelling. In order to observe the students' learning, the same dictation was given four times during the school year. The results were studied intuitively and…

Procedures used in foreign language teaching are discussed from the point of view of developing communicative strategies in students. Literature on communicative competence is reviewed and the implications for foreign language instruction are discussed. It is shown that: (1) from the very beginning of language instruction, the classroom setting,…

A history of intensive language training in the United States is given in this paper, and some key literature in the field is briefly reviewed. The article distinguishes two types of intensive language training--(1) the "semi-intensive" civilian university courses deriving from the Army Specialized Training Program and the Civilian…

Individualized instruction requires full exploitation of abilities, through systematized teaching and drill, programmed instruction and planning. The drill system should be divided into preparatory and practical exercises. Programmed instruction must be clearly distinguished from non-programmed. Comprehensive planning should aim at developing…

From the beginning, a major preoccupation of the business English course described here has been to respond to students' needs concerning programs of study as well as their future professional needs. Accordingly, these principles basic to all teaching procedures were adopted: (1) the material being learned must be put into practice; (2) such…

An operational definition of the standard for learner achievement at Level 2, with respect to the skills of reading and writing, was proposed for Spanish as one aspect of a research project. The method described, serving as the basis for articulation of level achievement, deals with general procedures, proposed operational definition of reading…

Certain aspects of the reading process have suggested that second language reading skills are determined to some extent by native language reading skills. Some of this research is reviewed here and an experiment is described in which the reading skills in Spanish and English of three groups of Spanish speakers learning English are compared.…

This study investigates the role of inferencing in cloze test performance and the factors that facilitate that inferencing. Four groups of high school students learning French as a second language completed sets of cloze passages under four treatment conditions. Three conditions provided a potential cue to inferencing, while the fourth was a…

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)