First language and second language learners have to learn through making mistakes. Foreign language learners do not have to learn, to anything like the same extent, in this way. Foreign language teachers should study students' mistakes in order better to understand how they are learning and mislearning. Teachers should try to avoid language…

Teachers' attitudes toward language teaching trends were surveyed. Prospective teachers about to enter the profession believed that language programs should be self-paced and there should be a cooperative learning climate in classrooms. Experienced teachers were more moderate but used techniques for self-pacing and real communication often in…

Criticism against the application of Skinnerian programed instruction techniques to foreign language learning is advanced, while the development of a largely self-instructional guided learning program with live teachers and other students is advocated. Major attention is directed to an explanation of the principles of programed instruction, the…

The paper presents a comprehensive summary of recent research on attitudes in foreign language instruction, discusses it in the light of four functions generally thought of as being characteristic of attitudes, and comments on the usefulness of the attitude concept in foreign language education. Research on attitudes is presented on several…

Exploring psycholinguistic factors which bear directly on student achievement in language instruction in college, this article concludes that programed language instruction has no negative influence on student attitudes. The author directly links learning rate to the learner's attitudes while focusing discussion on results of an attitudinal…

Calls for a careful examination of educational values, due to the lack of satisfaction and pride in the profession of foreign language teaching. The nonlinguistic outcomes of foreign language study are stressed. (Author/RM)

Aptitude is not a valid predictor of achievement in a foreign language. Studies show that motivation does affect achievement. Since the student's attitude and performance are affected by the teacher's attitude, teacher-learner interaction should be recognized as a major determinant of successful FL study. (KM)

Affective learning, psychomotor learning and cognitive learning are three objectives of education; they cannot be completely separated and often one type of objective may be a means of achieving another. This study attempted to begin bridging the gap between the affective objectives and the cognitive-psychomotor objectives in foreign language…

The 36 teacher-participants at the 1967 NDEA Summer Institute in English for speakers of other languages, held at the University of Montana, came from public, private, and Bureau of Indian Affairs schools in eight Western states. Their pupils represented 16 Indian tribes, ranging from Navaho, where many children come to school knowing no English,…

This is the complete report of the Schools Council Research and Development Project on Attitudes to and Motivation for the Learning of Welsh and English in Wales, based at the Department of Education, University College of Swansea. The project began in October 1967 and was completed in August 1971. Its chief aims were the following: (1) to…

Within the framework of viewing communicative competence as a prerequisite to linguistic competence, rather than vice versa, this paper considers the following: (1) the nature of communicative competence; (2) the implications of communicative competence for second language teaching; and (3) ways in which the teacher can begin to make a foreign…

The proceedings of the 1975 Southern Conference on Language Teaching include papers on a variety of topics. The theme of the conference was lifelong language learning, and areas covered include teacher attitudes, the interdisciplinary approach, public relations and public awareness of foreign language programs, career education and foreign…

An examination of changing student attitudes and behavior and current foreign language programs leads the author to propose strategies for developing new attitudes toward teaching, curriculum planning, and second language learning. Noting the characteristic unrest of today's youth and the bases for it, a plea is made for teachers and…

The theme of this issue of ELT Documents is the use of the language laboratory in language learning. An article by A. Maley summarizes the conference on the use of the language laboratory for advanced learners, held in Paris, 2-4 Oct. 1974, from which two main perspectives emerged. One is critical of the structuralist audio-lingual assumptions…

To reverse trends toward reductions in the number of foreign language teaching positions, it is necessary to change the negative image associated with foreign languages and to try to attract more students. A four-point selling program is suggested. (Author/RM)