THIS STUDY IS DESIGNED TO GIVE A WELL-ROUNDED AND CONTINUOUS HISTORY OF THE TEACHING OF ITALIAN IN THE UNITED STATES. AFTER PRESENTING A BRIEF PICTURE OF EARLY BRITISH INTEREST IN ITALY AND ITALIAN, THE REPORT TRACES THE CONSEQUENT DEVELOPMENT OF THE STUDY OF ITALIAN IN THE STATES FROM THE COLONIAL PERIOD TO THE PRESENT DAY. AREAS DISCUSSED IN…

ALL ORAL LANGUAGE DRILLS MAY BE SEPARATED INTO TWO TYPES--(1) MIM-MEM OR MIMICRY MEMORIZATION DRILLS OR (2) PATTERN PRACTICE DRILLS. THESE TWO LARGER CATEGORIES CAN BE SUB-DIVIDED INTO A NUMBER OF OTHER TYPES, SUCH AS TRANSFORMATION AND SUBSTITUTION DRILLS. THE USE OF ANY PARTICULAR TYPE DEPENDS ON THE PURPOSE TO WHICH THE DRILL IS PUT. IN ANY…

The state of the art of bilingual education in the Soviet Union is surveyed. The social context of Soviet bilingualism is discussed with reference to sources of heterogeneity, modernization as a motivating factor, political dimensions, and Soviet bases of research. The sociolinguistic paradigm of Soviet society is viewed as a function of the need…

Language laboratories are especially neglected at the intermediate and advanced levels of foreign language learning. Teachers fail to avail themselves of an important teaching tool at a critical point, when the more mechanical aspects of assimilating the target language should give way to gaining an actual communicative competence in it. At the…

Studies were conducted to help determine criteria for describing the stages through which second language learners pass as they acquire a new language. The ability of 24 beginning adult students of English as a second language to supply ten morphemes in obligatory contexts was predicted on the basis of contrastive analysis between English and each…

This annotated bibliography of aids in the teaching of English as a second language (ESL) lists materials under the following headings: (1) visual aids specifically designed for ESL teaching, (2) native English educational materials which could be applied to ESL teaching, (3) children's magazines, (4) audiovisual materials on British life and…

This paper attempts to give a unified view of the workings of noun clauses. These are considered according to three main types corresponding to three different kinds of source sentences. All three types can be used in any usual noun-phrase function, especially subject, direct object, and prepositional object. Four factors which complicate the…

Research in linguistics (theoretical, socio- and psycho-linguistics) on relative clause formation is reveiwed in order to determine the advisability of teaching this construction in English as a second language (ESL) classes. It is suggested that research on other constructions can lead to implications for teaching these constructions when there…

The goal of this study is to discover the phonetic difficulties encountered in the acquisition of French as a second language by English-speaking children. The children are studying French in a total immersion situation without benefit of structural exercises or special French language laboratory classes. Of particular interest here is the extent…

This annotated bibliography on the teaching of modern foreign languages is the product of a West German information dissemination system that is similar to ERIC. The bibliography is published quarterly and lists items compiled in conjunction with the ERIC Clearinghouse on Languages and Linguistics as well as with a number of institutions all over…

A task force was created in November of 1978 to assess the state of foreign language and international studies in Illinois public schools. This report begins with an overview of the current decline in foreign language enrollments and offerings. The need to foster foreign language study is discussed, both for its special place in intellectual…

Child care programs are ideal places to begin the mastery of both English and a native language. Language growth can be promoted through the use of pretend play. Pretend situations include storytelling, oral drills and poems, riddles and songs. In storytelling activities, it is essential that the adult model language for the children. The children…

The work reported here is part of an ongoing project to develop a language comprehension assessment instrument that: (1) is sensitive enough to pinpoint the particular language phenomena that are causing difficulty or have not been mastered, and (2) is also broad enough in scope to provide a credible and useful description of language proficiency.…

This paper states the position of the National Council of State Supervisors of Foreign Languages (NCSSFL) in regard to bilingual education. The Council feels that the ethnic languages and cultures of the people living in the United States should be preserved in order to strengthen and enrich the total American society. It therefore favors…

Two English language proficiency tests commonly given by universities and colleges to non-English speaking applicants were administered to 338 students in 5 Toronto high schools. The purpose of the testing was to relate test scores to students' background (language, immigrant status) and to school marks (English marks and others). Both tests…