Reviews the variety of approaches to language teaching covered by the term "functional," from those that focus on the learners' special objectives to those that stress the communicative aspect of languages. Sees the "Threshold Level French" elaborated in Europe as a blend of these approaches which contain several pitfalls. (MES)

Three major stages in the development of language testing have been identified and correlated with corresponding stages in teaching. These are: (1) the pre-scientific stage associated with the grammar-translation method; (2) the psychometric-structuralist stage concomitant with the audio-lingual method; and (3) the integrative-sociometric stage…

Needs assessment, identification of objectives, training and evaluation procedures of a Competency Based Education (CBE) system and minimum competencies are discussed. These are applied to second language instruction utilizing the Council of Europe's "Threshold Level" core from which statements may be developed and applied in a CBE learning…

A conceptual and practical structure for designing a local native language and culture curriculum for preschool through grade 9 is presented. The first section outlines the program's philosophy, rationale, and general and specific learner expectations, and offers an overview of the suggested linguistic and cultural content of such a program. The…

This paper describes the functional-notional approach to language teaching and learning in terms of the ways it can be used to meet the communicative needs of the potential language learners, particularly adults, who vary in what they want to do in the target language. It contrasts the functional system with conventional approaches, illustrates…

Alberta's curriculum guide for French immersion programs outlines the programs' rationale and objectives and the content of the oral language, reading, and writing components for six years. An introductory section discusses the aim of developing language competence and recent theory on competence. The role of language as an instrument of…

A Russian Function Catalog and Instructor and Advisor Rolebooks for Russian are presented. The catalog and rolebooks are part of the communication/language objectives-based system (C/LOBS), which supports the front-end analysis efforts of the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center. The C/LOBS projects, which is described in 13 volumes…

The job position of military advisory and assistance group (MAAG) officer for the Air Force as performed in Iberian Spanish is described in terms of terminal skill objectives (TSOs) and enabling objectives (EOs). This analysis is part of the communication/language objectives-based system (C/LOBS), which supports the front-end analysis efforts of…

This Iberian Spanish Function Catalog presents sentences, phrases, and patterns organized by language functions and functional categories. This catalog is part of the communication/language objectives-based system (C/LOBS), which supports the front-end analysis efforts of the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center. The C/LOBS project,…

The job position of infantryman of special forces as performed in Russian is described in terms of terminal skill objectives (TSOs) and enabling objectives (EOs). This analysis is part of the communication/language objectives-based system (C/LOBS), which supports the front-end analysis efforts of the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language…

The job position of operations/intelligence specialist as performed in Mandarin Chinese is described in terms of terminal skill objectives (TSOs) and enabling objectives (EOs). This analysis is part of the communication/language objectives-based system (C/LOBS), which supports the front-end analysis efforts of the Defense Language Institute…

A Mandarin Chinese Function Catalog and Instructor Rolebook for Mandarin Chinese are presented. The catalog and rolebook are part of the communication/language objectives-based system (C/LOBS), which supports the front-end analysis efforts of the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center. The C/LOBS project, which is described in 13…

The position of radio specialist for special forces as performed in Russian is described in terms of terminal skill objectives (TSOs) and enabling objectives (EOs). This analysis is part of the communication/language objectives-based system (C/LOBS), which supports the front-end analysis efforts of the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language…

An English function catalog and rolebooks are presented as part of the communication/language objectives-based system (C/LOBS) that supports the front-end analysis efforts of the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center. The C/LOBS project, which is described in 13 volumes and an executive summary, functions as a subsystem of the…

The conceptual tools used in the communication/language objectives-based system (C/LOBS), which supports the front-end analysis efforts of the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center, are examined. The C/LOBS project, which is described in 13 volumes and an executive summary, functions as a subsystem of the instructional systems…