French became the foremost medium of communication in Europe in the 18th century. In Germany the most widely used French textbook was Johan Valentin Meidinger's "Practische Franzoesische Grammatik." This textbook was apparently a huge success from the pedagogical and the commerical points of view. With a few minor revisions, it would…

NASILP (the National Association of Self-Instructional Language Programs) is a professional organization of academicians focusing on the development of self-instructional programs, primarily for uncommonly taught languages. Although the number of students in these languages is proportionally increasing, teachers find themselves in professional…

Perhaps the main forum for disseminating information about new techniques and materials to language teachers is the professional development workshop. Such workshops often proceed along similar lines: local teachers are brought together and a consultant is brought in to describe and illustrate a particular subject, with the expectation that…

This report summarizes a project which, among other points, investigated the following: (1) the content and design of the education offered to adults of limited schooling; (2) student and teacher attitudes toward the content and design of this education; and (3) the characteristics of those students who continue, and of those who discontinue,…

This issue deals with the problems of reviving the study of French in general, and the use of French in Louisiana in particular. "Rebirth of French in New Orleans" describes a conference on French language teaching held in New Orleans on December 26-30, 1975, and organized jointly by the American Association of Teachers of French (AATF),…

Specific areas in foreign language teacher training programs are defined as problem areas: the teaching of culture, activities to promote the study of foreign languages, and language testing. It is stated that foreign language teachers should have competence in (1) content area, (2) the learning-teaching process, and (3) the relationship of…

Part I is a paper, "Authenticity and Communication in Foreign Language Teaching," presented at the workshop. This paper argues that improving the relationship between teacher and student is one means of promoting language study. The teacher must first of all abandon his pedestal of authority and accept his dual role as giver of a tool of…

The prenominal relative modifer construction (PREM) in German, while not a compulsory grammatical feature of the language, is a stylistic means of expression which native speakers use readily in non-casual speech and writing. Teaching the active use of this construction at the intermediate level of German study may be an effective means of helping…

This volume is the first of a series of annotated bibliographies describing the library holdings of the Bilingual Education Service Center in Arlington Heights, Illinois. In addition to providing a representative sampling of available materials, this bibliography could be useful in the preliminary selection of instructional and resource tools.…

A conceptual framework for research in bilingual education programs and a set of criteria for implementing such research are proposed. The approach to experimental research in bilingual education is based on two assumptions: (1) as soon as a model is implemented in two different sites, there will be variation in the model; and (2) any effective…

This paper investigates the second language acquisition of interrogative-word questions in English. It is shown that the data from some bilingual English speakers at Pan American University are comparable to the data noted by others for both second and first language acquisition of interrogative word questions. In particular, interrogative-word…

This list of minimal competencies for foreign language teachers is broken down into the following categories: (1) practical command of the foreign language, (2) language analysis, (3) culture, (4) teaching-learning process, and (5) professional. Each category has three parts: competence, indicator (a brief description of the activity or ability by…

Case studies involving learning styles and strategies in English as a second language are examined, based on previous research in which two English pilot tests were administered to a sample of Finnish University students. Those who scored high and low on the two tests were selected for structured interviews, where attention was directed to…

In learning to read a nonnative language, the learner's ability to achieve meaning is hampered if adequate preparation or readiness for reading is neglected. A review of the literature pertaining to second language learning and reading in a second language has identified five principles that appear to be significant in providing effective reading…

The BISVUX Project was designed to investigate the linguistic knowledge requirements of adults and to determine the best way of catering to those needs (especially the need to speak the language) in teaching and in studies. Because surveys of the perceived needs of participants in Swedish adult high school English courses, adult learning…