This study was conducted in order to better understand how, if at all, language centers (LCs) are relevant in current technological and methodological contexts of second language education. Five language centers housed by four different institutions of higher education in the western United States were examined. Two representatives from each of…

This program evaluation study addressed the struggle of local elementary school speech-language pathologists (SLPs) in a school district to provide evidence-based intervention in language for students below grade level as required by the U.S. Department of Education. Recently, Language Lab™ was published to address the needs of oral language…

This paper discusses the development and use of student self-study centers in language programs, focusing on the experiences of a language teacher in developing such a center at Cultura Inglesia in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Self-study centers may be defined as a set of facilities aimed at providing students with the opportunity of learning…

THIS CRITIQUE OF RAYMOND F. KEATING'S 1963 "STUDY OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF LANGUAGE LABORATORIES" CONSISTS OF FOUR ESSAYS DISCUSSING THE BIASED THINKING AND FAULTY RESEARCH PROCEDURES WHICH CHARACTERIZE THE REPORT. THESE ESSAYS EXAMINE SUCH FAULTS IN THE REPORT AS THE TOTAL LACK OF DEFINITION OF WHAT IS UNDER INVESTIGATION, THE USE OF…

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.…

Language laboratory effectiveness in secondary schools and related research are discussed. Criteria for five elements determining the laboratory's effectiveness are described: (1) the teacher, (2) the teaching materials, (3) the testing and grading programs, (4) the student practice sessions, and (5) the equipment. Some general remarks are made…

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…

Discusses the outcomes of an investigation into the motives and appreciation of autonomous language learners among students and staff of the Department of Individual Foreign Language Studies at the University of Amsterdam. The results showed so much variety that any conclusions or correlations were hard to make. (Author/SED)

A study of the use of and attitudes about language laboratories focused on teacher perceptions of their speed, accuracy, and motivational capability and on the extent to which these characteristics are exploited in classroom use by teachers and students. Observers in four British schools of English rated details of language laboratory use in a…

The language laboratory could make a larger impact than it does on undergraduate language study. The growth of attractive new technology makes even more important the careful evaluation and exploitation of existing technology. A major obstacle in doing this is the lack of careful and rigorous research about the effectiveness of the language…

To address the special second language learning needs of deaf college students, a project was undertaken at Gallaudet University (District of Columbia), the world's only four-year liberal arts university for the deaf, to create 36 videotaped lessons in grammar, signed in American Sign Language, for first-year French and Spanish instruction. The…

The evolution of a 2-week summer honors program in French for high school students, inaugurated in 1980 and conducted on a university campus, is chronicled. The program was designed to offer enriching experiences in language review, new skill building, French culture, understanding of French phonology, and conversation on topics of interest to…

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…