Differences between the language laboratory and the electronic classroom sway the author to favor the latter for use in public schools. Principal characteristics of each, laboratory equipment, instructional goals, building management, lesson planning, and cost factors are also discussed in the article. (RL)

Claiming that the actual learning of basic language skills takes place in the language laboratory, the author states four requisites for effective use of the laboratory: (1) a clear statement of specific objectives, (2) instructions for the student, (3) realistic objectives, and (4) student rewards. Testing, learning theory, applied linguistics,…

Some of the advantages and disadvantages of the electronic classroom are described, with particular reference to the scheduling of equipment use. An experiment with first-year language students in high school, some of whom used the electronic classroom, and some, a combination of conventional classroom and language laboratory, is discussed in…

Seven reasons excerpted from "Language Laboratory Learning" (1960) by Fernand Marty are cited for a preference for individual rooms or closed booths to language laboratories with open booths. The author specifies additional psychological and acoustical advantages of the closed booth system. Weaknesses inherent in the open booth laboratory are also…

This article describes a typical audio-active-record student control panel and operational requirements, which, due to inefficiently designed controls, may have a negative influence on student attitudes and performance. A model panel, developed at the University of Hawaii, incorporating student needs illustrates improvements in technical design.…

An attempt at promoting greater variety and thus better student attitudes toward open languages laboratory attendance involves a set pattern of five specific steps in the preparation of taped exercises. Three basic principles are prescribed and illustrated by examples in German, French, and English as a foreign language. (RL)

Linguistic acquisition as a mutual objective in the foreign language classroom and in the language laboratory leads to the conceptualization of duties proper to a linguistic coordinator. Distinct from the chairman of the department and the laboratory director, the linguistic coordinator's function and educational preparation described in this…

Viewing the language laboratory as an educational resource with potential applicability in every area of study, the author sets forth four basic principles which prompt him to urge its wider use. They include: (1) the possibility for concentration in isolation, (2) student analysis of his own voice, (3) a variable learning rate, and (4) the…

A summary of the purpose of the project, a discussion of experiment design, some statistical analysis of test results, and implications are included in this article. Attempting to determine which of three audio-assistance systems--the audio-active, audio-record language laboratory, or the classroom tape recorder--is most effective in foreign…