In the 1960's, two medical doctors, Georgi Lozanov and Alfonso Caycedo, discovered independently that certain yogic techniques of physical and mental relaxation could be used to produce not only analgesia but also improved memory and concentration. Systems originally used in medicine and psycho-therapy were applied to education, in particular to…

Foreign language study must be justified in relation to everyday situations, problems and needs. Second language education must therefore be integrated with career education. The Oregon State Department of Education sponsored a study for a group of educators to produce a transportable display and a video tape for career awareness purposes and to…

The existence of a state of consciousness attained through transcendental meditation and characterized by specific qualities that would facilitate the acquisition of language is proposed. This theory is supported by analogies between certain conceptualizations of quantum physics and various aspects of transcendental meditation. Comparisons are…

This paper describes the "euphemistic lexicographical technique," which is recommended for use by lexicographers for the frank recording of vulgar speech. This is a monodirectional technique to be used in bilingual dictionaries prepared for speakers of only one of the two languages. The vulgar words will not appear in the source language…

Throughout the fifties and sixties the methodology of second-language teaching underwent a radical change in response to new communication needs, and under the influence of structural linguistics and behavioral psychology. Unfortunately, the effort did not produce all of the results expected, and this probably for two reasons: on the one hand, it…

The current crisis in foreign language instruction is largely the result of a general disillusionment with methods, objectives, and achievements, in fact with the whole philosophy that has determined foreign language programs in the U.S. for the last 15-20 years. Today, the primary goal of foreign language instruction must be reemphasized. This…

This paper describes Leondard Bloomfield's contributions to the description and instruction of German. Bloomfield's approach is reflected in this textbook "First German Book" which appeared in 1923 and was revised in 1928. The organization and structure of the text are described here in detail, and the differences between the first and…

In order to learn to read successfully in a foreign language, students must first have well-developed auditory and visual skills. Students can be made to recognize the importance of attention to detail by means of frequent copying exercises. Translation must be avoided if real reading skills are to develop. The teacher should insist that the…

Foreign language enrollment at every level is dropping, and French courses in particular have felt the effects of this reduction. Teachers must begin to see the importance of considering the students' basic attitudes, and they must actively seek to get the students interested in learning a language. Success depends on the teacher's ability to…

In recent times there has been undue emphasis placed on the utilitarian byproducts of language study: the kinds of positions open for language majors, the practical purposes to which languages may be put, and job openings in the areas of translation, diplomacy, and commerce. These motives for the study of a language are commendable, but they do…

This paper describes how role-playing was used in a French culture and civilization class at Eastern Washington State College. The class was conducted entirely in French, and each class member read the same material for each day. L. Wylie's "Les Francais" was used as the class text, and "Comment vivent les Francais" by Girod and Grand-Clement was…

This paper discusses the ambiguous potential of teaching culture and civilization in the foreign language classroom and stresses the need for content, objectives, and methods to be more clearly defined than they have been to date. Particular reference is made to two articles on the subject of teaching culture. The first is John Troyanovich's…

Spanish verbs pose contextual problems for the non-native speaker in his use of the subjunctive, reflexives, and pronouns. The semantic range and syntactic contexts of many common verbs are usually treated and learned very unsystematically. One ordinarily seeks answers to contextual questions from a dictionary, but dictionaries do not provide…

In recent years, there has been a growing research interest in the analysis of errors adults make while learning a second language. The underlying objective of most of these analyses has been to reveal the systematicity of adult errors in an effort to understand the process of adult second language learning. This paper deals with errors from a…

Drawing on the work of Charles Curran, this paper proposes ways in which the training of teachers might be facilitated through regular counseling. Anxiety is seen as the chief difficulty in the conventional training process. This anxiety, caused by fear of making mistakes, of losing job security, or of performing in public and being evaluated, can…