A teacher describes an intensive Spanish course and the methods used to create the kind of exposure to total culture a student would have visiting a Spanish country. Pronunciation and speaking are practiced through use of songs, records, tapes, and poetry; students write essays; and language and culture are interrelated. (CHK)

A description of a French course given in Mexico to mathematics teachers. The object was to enable them to read primary, untranslated sources as quickly as possible. The general learning objectives, characteristics of students and teachers, methods, and a complete sample lesson plan are given. (Text is in French.) (AMH)

Questions fundamental to all methodologies are the basis for this article: to whom, why, and for what future use is a language taught. Topics discussed and evaluated are: centering on student needs; more activemethods to develop expression and creativity; and communicative competence. (Text is in French.) (AMH)

A description of introductory university French courses in Japan where communication needs have effected a change in student motivation. The objectives, learning conditions, role of error analysis, linguistic obstacles, teaching goals and methods, course content, and new perspectives are discussed. (Text is in French.) (AMH)

The primary task of teacher educators must be to offer foreign language teachers the means to better conceptualize and carry out their task and thus to regain confidence. The present situation is assessed; needs are analysed in terms of teachers, students, the culture and society; and conclusions are drawn. (AMH)

A summary of presentations on the teaching of reading skills in English to speakers of other languages. Topics included the focus on different kinds of skills, use of discourse analysis, and reading as realization of an underlying communicative process. (AMH)

A procedure involving dialogue and an oral paraphrase of a text is suggested as a means of developing communication skills. Student errors in communicative exchange compared with their errors in structural and prepared exercises, recurring sources of errors, and utilization of these sources in productive learning situations are discussed. (AMH)

In the context of a conversation in French between the author and her young English-speaking son, this discussion of methodology, the relative importance of grammar, progress in grasping the mechanisms of a language, and communication based on real needs raises questions for foreign language teachers. (Text is in French.) (AMH)

The knowledge of foreign languages must be based on reasoning and logical insight, and second language instruction must move from the pragmatically based courses of recent years towards a new approach in which language is seen as a means to action, and where analysis, synthesis, and correct use will occupy a central position. (CB)

A review of literature regarding the communicative approach to language teaching discusses achievements and problems with this approach, language learning and the social self, speech and cognition, and reactive and proactive initiative. The need to develop language learning environments which will enhance proactive initiative and self-reliance in…

Success in transaction and interaction in the foreign language classroom depends on teachers and students knowing the parts they have to play and how they relate to those that others have in learning encounters. Various roles of teachers and learners are defined. (CB)

Argues against the grammatical accuracy hypothesis. Test results of second-language students taught by Krashen's Natural Approach are compared to results from those taught by the grammar-translation method. No advantage is found in using the traditional method, and the expectation that students can become fluent speakers of a second language in…

Describes strategies for using story reading to help language minority students in grades one through six acquire language proficiency. Discusses ways to make story reading effective, including frequent reading, the use of cueing strategies, and the use of follow-up activities. (FL)

Describes a study which investigated and described the linguistic input and conversational interaction found in English as a second language classrooms when small groups of students work together. The results are compared with classroom activities in which the students participate as a class in teacher-directed lessons. (SED)

The communicative approach has brought second language instruction a long way from strict grammar-oriented pedagogy, carrying with it a return to meaning, less repetition, emphasis on the learner, and attention to the social and pragmatic aspects of communication. (MSE)