European language-teaching theory and practice in retrospect covering the period from 1920 to 1970 are noted to be an amalgam of underlying disciplines, teaching methodologies, and technical aids. Chronologically presented, the "orthodoxy" of 1920-40 charts general similarities in the state of the art prior to a 10-year period of major…

An experiment involving two groups of 193 beginning secondary school students of French, German, and Spanish considers the instructional value of the electronic classroom as an alternative to the conventional language laboratory for the presentation of exercise materials. Experimental design hypotheses state that since more practice is possible…

A general review of the development of the language laboratory is given in this article in the light of claims made by early theorists favoring the use of the laboratory in foreign language instruction. Comments are directed to the nature of language, language teaching methodology, and use and criticism of the laboratory. The author concludes that…

Beginning with a brief review of the growth of the audiolingual method of foreign language instruction in the United States of America, this paper examines implications and lessons drawn from an educational experiment in language instruction known as the Pennsylvania Report. The text of a memorandum to school administrators in Pennsylvania by the…

Possibilities opened by video in the theory and practice of foreign language teaching are suggested. Among the advantages are: observation of mouth movements is important to articulation; gestures and facial expressions are an important part of communication; and language presented in social contexts can show socio-linguistic conventions. (SW)

Describes a program of French for engineering students that makes extensive use of audiovisual laboratory equipment and cultural materials. (AM)

Discusses how computers have fundamentally changed the nature of the college language laboratory, examining specific computer programs and computer-based tools and systems. Computer-based language instruction will allow more individualized instruction, give students more control over what and how they learn, and expand the study of foreign…

Compares past methods of teaching languages with the current emphasis on teaching oral/aural skills. The use of technology is then discussed, in particular the language laboratory, the videotape recorder, the videodisk, and the computer. Suggestions are offered on how to adapt each for educational purposes. (23 references) (CFM)

Examines the benefits of language laboratories for learning Japanese. After reviewing related literature and selected issues on educational technology, the article presents results from a survey of Australian college students using a language laboratory. Overall, students appreciated and were positive about the language laboratory, though some had…

Educators are now realizing, due to recent technological advances in the cassette tape field, that they can have a complete and educationally sound lab system that will adapt to nearly any independent study situation without having to spend large sums of money. Under budgetary constraints and the desire to provide for a learning lab with the…

EXPERIMENTS ON LANGUAGE LEARNING WERE CONDUCTED IN WALES WITH 26 8-YEAR OLD CHILDREN, OF MIXED ABILITY, BILINGUAL IN ENGLISH AND WELSH, AND ABOUT TO LEARN GERMAN. A STUDY OF THE LEARNING PROCESSES WAS MADE BY A VARIETY OF TESTS USED TO MEASURE LISTENING, UNDERSTANDING, IMITATING, AND WRITING. PRESENTED IN THIS DOCUMENT ARE THE DIFFERENT…

THIS PHASE OF A SURVEY OF EXISTING RUSSIAN LANGUAGE PROGRAMS DURING ACADEMIC YEAR 1966-67 INCLUDES ONLY DATA RELEVANT TO HIGHER INSTITUTIONS. IN ADDITION TO IDENTIFYING THE INSTITUTIONS THAT OFFERED RUSSIAN DURING THAT PERIOD, DATA ARRANGED IN TABLES REVEAL WHERE UNDERGRADUATE AND GRADUATE PROGRAMS EXIST, AND GIVE NUMERICAL SUMMARIES, BY STATE, OF…

This book, written for those who have no formal training in linguistics but who have an interest in language or language teaching, is meant as a practical text for use in introductory courses in Applied Linguistics. Its emphasis is on second language teaching, but it is also of interest to those who teach native speakers because it covers the…

A survey was carried out at the University of Nancy to determine how many students visited the tape library and how often, in one academic year. The academic year investigated was 1973-1974. One hundred eight students visited the lab the first trimester, 45 the second, and 14 the third. In general it was found that the more advanced the students'…

Behavioral technology applied to language instruction at the college level is contrasted with instructional approaches based on an educational philosophy of a more theoretical nature. While focusing on individual needs and the possibility of self-instruction, the author discusses conventional laboratory teaching, task performance theory, systems,…