Origins and problems of classroom-centered research on language learning and teaching are surveyed, tracing the development of both the concerns and the research tools used. The development of a productive controversy over objective versus subjective methods is described. (MSE)

Language teachers have responded to the special pedagogical needs created by large language classes as they arise rather than addressing them comprehensively. This may result from both guilt about the relatively small size of even the large language classes, and fear that expression of concern might be mistaken for trying to find an excuse for…

A discussion of classroom research on language teaching looks at what researchers have learned so far from attempts to study what happens in the language classroom. The discussion is based on the idea that it is not the currency of instructional method used that matters most, but rather a fuller understanding of classroom interaction. The first…