Representative programs and new approaches to foreign language education in the elementary school (grades K-8) are identified. Included is a review of foreign languages in emerging adolescent education, or programs for students in grades 5-8 or 6-8 that are housed in a middle or junior high school. A discussion is presented of major curriculum…

A completely revised edition of "A Modern Grammar of Spoken Amharic," this book is presented as a practical text for the student of the language. The 43 chapters of the text present a descriptive analysis of the sound system and grammar. Except for verbal prefixes and suffixes and partially Semitic vocabulary, the structure of Amharic is…

This collection of writings in and about the Kenai language is intended for students at the intermediate or advanced level. The volume is divided into five sections: (1) narratives about Dena'ina life; (2) traditional stories or "sukdu"; (3) prayers and songs; (4) literacy and grammar exercises; and (5) place names. The narratives,…

Distractors, the incorrect responses to an item on a multiple-choice test, should be designed to create confusion in the minds of some students and to permit a competent student to be able to see that they are wrong. It is possible, by close scrutiny, to isolate the sources of this confusion and, by looking at a statistical analysis, to find out…

This volume consists of an intermediate course in Sara, a language of the Chad Republic of Africa. It is designed for native speakers of English and includes forty reading selections in Sara and an English translation of each selection. The readings are followed by a corresponding set of dialogues in Sara, accompanied by an English translation.…

This document reports on the foreign language training offered in the Peace Corps. Following a brief introductory statement, a list of languages taught by the Peace Corps in the years 1961-67 is provided, as well as a brief description of Peace Corps language training methods. Guidelines for language coordinators are outlined, and the approach to…

The aim of this article is to explain what the term "languages for special purposes" means and what it does not mean, to outline the rationale for such a branch of language teaching and to indcate some of the problems it poses for syllabus planners and course designers. Four principal types of problems and considerations are identified and…

This guide first points out the difficulty and the lack of reliability involved in using tests to evaluate the abilities of children from linguistically and culturally diverse backgrounds. Suggestions are then given for using existing evaluation techniques to test the English language proficiency of children at kindergarten level. The following…

Communicative competence, the ability to use a language effectively in unrehearsed transactions with native speakers, must be the ultimate goal of language teaching. Drills and repetition of patterned phrases do not, in and of themselves, lead to real language use. We should begin giving students opportunities to use language in unrehearsed,…

The Materials Acquisition Project was created by the Bilingual Education Programs Branch of the U.S. Office of Education to make available information concerning instructional materials currently published in Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking countries to teachers of elementary and secondary bilingual-bicultural education classes in the United…

This preliminary report describes an ongoing investigation begun in September 1970 of how Anglophone children with language-learning disabilities fare in French immersion programs. Their progress has been followed from Kindergarten to Grade 3, with positive preliminary results. The children have learned to read in both English and French; their…

This survival English text is written for Indochinese, sixteen years old and over, who do not have the very basic listening and speaking skills needed for living in America. The lessons are designed to develop a functional listening and speaking vocabulary of approximately 900 words, over an instructional span of nine weeks or less. Reading and…

Part 1 of this reader consists of transcriptions of five Tamil radio plays, with exercises, notes, and discussion. Part 2 is a synopsis grammar and a glossary. Both are intended for advanced students of Tamil who have had at least two years of instruction in the spoken language at the college level. The materials have been tested in classroom use…

Though the need for a language or languages to describe teacher behavior has been recognized for some time, few systems of analysis exist. A conceptual framework and a set of terms have been developed to describe the messages students and teachers send and receive in second language classrooms. This system is called FOCUS (an acronym for Foci for…

This speech emphasizes the significance of living literatures and living cultures which owe a direct debt to the Romans and the Greeks from whom they can trace their origins. After commenting on typical rejoinders to the question "Why study classical languages?" and poking fun at those who advance jaded, esoteric responses, the author dispels the…