Reports on an experiment designed to evaluate the effects of "slowed speech" on language students' achievements in listening comprehension. Two second semester college level French classes provided the experimental and control groups. Contrary to expectations, pre- and postexperiment tests showed a significant drop in the experimental…

Presented as a paper at the meeting of the National Association of Language Laboratory Directors (NALLD), New York, New York, December 28, 1968. Suggests ways of improving language laboratory instruction in light of the Pennsylvania Project. (DS)

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,…

This second edition is a complete reworking of the 1968 text to include later views of language learning and teaching, and theories of linguistics and psychology. The text is intended particularly for use in methods classes in conjunction with observation of experienced foreign language teachers. The early chapters deal with general principles…

The introduction of a listening comprehension component in the Israeli Matriculation examination of English as a Foreign Language has necessitated research into more effective methods of testing listening comprehension. Oral proficiency has been part of the examination for some time, but more reliable methods of evaluating the test are needed. An…

An experiment, using College Board Achievement Tests in German Reading and Listening Comprehension, to compare the effectiveness of earphones and loudspeakers in language test presentation is described. Related opinions, implications, and conclusions on the effectiveness of communication media in language teaching and testing are offered. (AF)

This collection of readings on the topic of teaching English as a second language (ESL) has a twofold purpose: to enlarge the ESL teacher's awareness of the field and to assist in the professional growth of the new teacher or teacher-trainee. Each of the book's nine sections deal with one area of ESL instruction. Section 1, "Trends and Practices,"…

This paper presents arguments in favor of using partial dictation as a test of foreign language proficiency. In this kind of test, subjects listen to recordings of material in the foreign language and are required to fill in missing words in a written version of the recordings. Partial dictation is preferable to ordinary dictation in that: (1) it…

This conference proceeding presents abstracts, complete papers, and presenter biographies from the 1995 Computer Assisted Language Instruction Consortium (CALICO) annual symposium on computers and collaborative learning. Presented topics included courseware, preconference workshop reports, and conference papers presented, including guest speaker…