Asserts that language mastery should be judged separately from knowledge, reasoning ability and personality traits. Recognition of and communication of intention are discussed as key factors in language mastery, and the skills of reading, speaking, writing and comprehension are described as independent skills. (RM)

Argues for an awareness on the part of employers and teachers of the important role language skills can play in industry. (AM)

Contradicts a theory that second language learning is necessarily an identical process to native language learning, and cites some of the differences, with relevance to language instruction. (CK)

A notional syllabus places the greatest emphasis on the use of the language, unlike most foreign language syllabuses, which emphasize its structural form. Each entry defines a type of purposeful communication. When the student has mastered the syllabus, he has thus acquired a communicative competence. (CFM)

Proposes establishment of sixth-form commercial language courses. Level, course length, syllabus, examination, languages proposed (French and German), and teacher motivation are discussed. (CHK)

A set of language laboratory materials currently being tested in eight Scottish universities is described. The aim of the completely self-taught course is to increase the student's exposure to the language as a whole. The unity of each tape is based on the communicative function of the introductory text. (AMH)

Listening comprehension exercises in second language instruction are expected to: (1) increase students' efficiency at message extraction, and (2) lead to assimilation of new vocabulary and expressions. Data from a small experiment using such exercises illustrate the distinctions drawn and the limitations. (CHK)

French instruction in Nigeria is plagued by lack of qualified teachers and a high dropout rate. A comparison of students' and teachers' views on dropout indicated several problems; poor examination results; lack of interest and opportunity to use French; poor language aptitude, poor teaching, and pressure of other school subjects. (CHK)

Discusses the importance of pronunciation in teaching English as a second language. The role of stress in English is emphasized in particular. (KM)

Outlines a second language program that, over a period of three years, exposes the student to three languages and several teachers and stresses communicative competence. (AM)

Recommends that language teaching be organized by complexity of communication tasks rather than by difficulty of linguistic structure, that learner speech be analyzed on its own terms borrowing methods from child language studies, and that the adjustments in speech that teachers make in talking to students be recognized as such. (MLA)

A discussion of error analysis understood as the differences between the way people learning a language speak and the way adult native speakers use the language. The inevitable errors can be turned to pedagogical advantage if the teacher provides appropriate feedback to help the learner modify his grammar. (AMH)

Second language (L2) learning has much more in common with L1 acquisition than has been traditionally acknowledged. New ideas about the nature of language, how it is learned, and how it is used must be taken into consideration when planning foreign language programs. (Author/CFM)

Recommends and illustrates the use of oral lists of familiar English words in acclimatizing students of English as a second language to common sounds before exposure to a text or to conversation. (MSE)

The transfer of students at 13+ from middle to high school requires high school teachers to assess heterogenous groups of children from different middle schools. Ways of predicting students' success at further language study are suggested. (RM)