Transformational grammar offers the most adequate system by which to meet the goal of grammar instruction, which is to increase the student's understanding of the nature of language. This grammar attempts to explain the mental processes underlying the production and understanding of sentences, to describe linguistic competence, to construct…

A review of trends in the teaching of foreign language during the last decade focuses on the predominance of the audiolingual method and current criticism by leading theorists of its theoretical foundations. Discussion of a psychological model of learning explores the relationships of motivation, cognition, evaluation, and response formation. The…

Discussion and evaluation of Helmer's Didaktik der deutschen Sprach. Einfuhrung in die Theorie der muttersprachlichen und literarischen Bildung'' (Instruction of the German Language. An Introduction to the Theory of Education in the National Language and Literature), Stuttgart, West Germany, 1971. (RS)

A brief analysis of several theories of language acquisition and of various methods of language instruction leads to a proposal of general guidelines to be used in the development of an experimental course in Latin for seventh-grade students. The author discusses the writings of Chomsky, Sweet, and Brooks and suggests the abandonment of…

Language, considered as a liberal art, is examined in the light of other philosophical viewpoints concerning the nature of language in relation to second language instruction in this paper. Critical of an earlier mechanistic audio-lingual learning theory, translation approaches to language learning, vocabulary list-oriented courses, graduate…