Notions of professionalism, examined in this address, are introduced by a brief history of language instruction from the mid-1930's to the present. The author then comments on the role of the National Defense Education Act institutes, the relevance of language instruction, college teaching assistants, teacher preparation, post-graduate education,…

The developmental scheme of the systems approach could be applied effectively to the design of foreign language teacher education. After the performance objectives had been formulated and the learning tasks analyzed and characterized, the design of the system could be undertaken. This would involve--(1) functions and component analyses, (2) the…

The various forms of folklore are identified and suggestions are made on the use of some of them in the daily language lesson for the development of cultural understanding and language skills. Folk tales, proverbs, riddles, and regional slurs are discussed along with the French cultural themes and value systems they illustrate. A brief annotated…

This revised and expanded version of "Modern Foreign Languages: A Counselor's Guide" discusses questions about foreign language study often asked by high school students. Spanning more than half the guide, the appendixes treat specific topics: (1) languages spoken by more than a million native speakers, (2) programs and publications (exchange,…

This trilingual handbook (English, French, German) presents exercises for eight areas of language instruction: (1) practice in sentence patterns, (2) presentation and practice of a new item, (3) pronunciation, (4) use of pictures, (5) practicing the transfer from oral to written skills, (6) presentation and practice of conversational patterns, (7)…

Extracts of a speech touch upon communication, linguistic studies of French, a coherent language program, teacher education, and exchange programs. Recommendations list areas in which further improvement in foreign language teaching is possible under the headings: (1) research, (2) teacher training--both initial and inservice, (3) further…

These proceedings focus on the theme of the foreign languages within the humanities. Standing committee meetings described are: (1) FLES, (2) High School and College Foreign Language Articulation, (3) Legislation, (4) Multimedia, and (5) Evaluation of Regents Examinations. Panel meetings center on: (1) culture, (2) cocurricular foreign language…

This fourth in a series of such catalogs lists 344 items pertaining to foreign language instruction that were accessioned by all Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) Clearinghouses from May 1969 through October 1969. Entries are organized alphabetically, and a 12-category user index assists in pinpointing items relevant to particular…

This report outlines in detail the proceedings of a symposium held on the integration of audio-visual aids into the teaching of modern languages in the classroom. The following topics were discussed: (1) textbooks, a new look; (2) an audio-visual course, its structure and content; (3) radio and radio-vision, and film and videotape as course…

The distinction between artifact and tool is introduced into the study of language diversity and the posting of linguistic universals. A complicating factor in all language investigations is the use of language as the chief tool to create new language. Analogy and metaphor are considered as two major creative forces at work in all languages.…

An experiment in the teaching of reading in Spanish to second- and third-grade students, conducted by the author at the Ethel Phillips elementary school, utilizes a modified version of Dr. Laubach's "syllabic, analytic-synthetic" method of language instruction. In this approach, vowels are combined in succession with each of the consonants to…

A three-phase research project involving eighth-grade students seeking to examine the potentialities of managed self-instruction in introductory modern language courses at the early secondary level is reported in this paper. Problems inherent in the development of instructional systems and differentiated language learning modes are explored with…

This report describes initial steps taken in a research project aimed at gaining insight into the nature of effective foreign language teaching. Two systems for observing and describing classroom behavior of teachers and students were developed in this experiment. These systems were used to observe university-level French classes. Data collected…

A review of trends in the teaching of foreign language during the last decade focuses on the predominance of the audiolingual method and current criticism by leading theorists of its theoretical foundations. Discussion of a psychological model of learning explores the relationships of motivation, cognition, evaluation, and response formation. The…

This study is comprised of five major sections, each of which focuses on a central linguistic issue germane to the understanding of the general phonetic characteristics of languages. The sections include: (1) a comparative study of terminal consonant releases; (2) the influence of consonants upon contiguous vowels --phase 1: vowel duration; (3)…