Reports on the results of two surveys of college-level instruction in Russian, conducted in 1980 and 1983, designed to measure to what degree phonetics is included as an integral part of the program. The majority of the schools in both surveys indicated a casual attitude towards teaching pronunciation and an overall downward trend in the role of…

Addresses one problem brought about by the confusion around the concept of communicative competence and the communicative approach to second language teaching. Considers the belief that communication, as opposed to language, should be the conceptual center of second language instruction, and then suggests a framework for representing the…

Reports on a survey of mother tongue teaching and support for primary age pupils in England and Wales, undertaken as part of the Schools Council Mother Tongue Project. The analysis indicates that the majority of local education authorities now have a multilingual school population, and that bilingual pupils can communicate in a wide range of…

Reexamines the theoretical presuppositions of current pedagogical second-language approaches, and questions certain assumptions that have been generally accepted. It is shown that the lack of a theoretical base for current approaches has led to weaknesses in second-language acquisition philosophy, language curriculum structuring, and the role of…

Textbooks currently available for foreign language instruction are generally oriented toward instruction in grammar for its own sake. Until materials are developed that are specifically geared to a systematic development of communicative competence, textbooks must be adapted. This handbook is directed toward that need. It emphasizes the following…

The use of the Language Background Questionnaire is analyzed, and the following criticisms are offered: (1) the varying nature and range of questions used, (2) the inclusion of indirect language background questions, and (3) previous methods of categorization of individuals into groups using language background scores. (SL)

ALTHOUGH THE ENROLLMENT IN COURSES IN UKRANIAN IN WESTERN CANADA'S SECONDARY SCHOOLS CONTINUES TO INCREASE NORMALLY, THE DEMAND FOR RUSSIAN DECLINES PROGRESSIVELY. FACTORS AFFECTING THE ENROLLMENT TRENDS ARE (1) THE UNDERSTANDABLE PREFERENCE OF THE PREDOMINANTLY UKRANIAN POPULATION OF THE PRAIRIE STATES TO STUDY THEIR PARENT TONGUE, (2) THE LOCAL…

This presidential address sketches the development of the Linguistic Society of America since 1924, indicates the motives for its formation, and surveys its progress, status, and impact in the field of linguistics, both in the lay and scholarly spheres. The organization's role in the study of foreign languages, English, and English as a second…

An outline of the program of this 1966 conference at Wellesley College and transcripts of the speeches presented are included. A keynote address by Kenneth Mildenberger discusses language teacher preparation, research problems, and various teacher organizations. Three addresses consider prevention of a discontinum in elementary schools (Lincoln…

This report on French Second Language (FSL) education provides an overview of French programs in Ontario schools, indicates the progress that has been made in helping the students gain a better grasp of the language and understanding of the culture behind it, reviews the directions taken by the Ontario Ministry of Education, and summarizes the…

Study considers teachers' evaluations of students who perform equivalently in written academic work but who have distinct speech varieties including Spanish-influenced English. Despite length of teaching experience and teacher ethnicity, all teachers favored the non-Spanish-influenced speakers. (SL)

THE TEACHING OF THE NATIVE LANGUAGE CAN BE DIVIDED INTO THREE MAJOR MODES--THE PRESCRIPTIVE, THE DESCRIPTIVE, AND THE PRODUCTIVE. PRESCRIPTIVE TEACHING PROCEEDS FROM TWO (SUSPECT) ASSUMPTIONS--(1) THAT THERE ARE ABSOLUTE STANDARDS UNANIMOUSLY KNOWN AND SHARED BY EDUCATED ADULTS, TO WHICH A STUDENT'S LANGUAGE SHOULD ATTAIN, AND (2) THAT…

The papers in this collection were presented at the second seminar of the International Association for the Research and Dissemination of Audio-Visual and Structural-global Methods (AIMAV). The purpose of the seminar was to discuss the following in relation to teaching modern languages to adults: (1) operational definitions for proficiency levels,…

This report is divided into three sections: (1) an introduction discussing language enrollments and the value of language study; (2) a statement of goals; and (3) recommendations for achieving these goals in the areas of curriculum, teacher training and faculty development, research, and policy. (AMH)