THE EFFECT OF AUDIOLINGUAL FRENCH INSTRUCTION IN THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL ON THE PUPIL'S ACHIEVEMENT IN A SECONDARY SCHOOL LANGUAGE PROGRAM, AS SHOWN BY THIS FOLLOW-UP STUDY, IS DEPENDENT UPON PROGRAM ARTICULATION THROUGHOUT THE GRADES AND COORDINATION BETWEEN TESTING AND THE LEARNING SITUATION. THE PROCEDURE FOR THE STUDY INVOLVED 354 GRADE 9 PUPILS IN FIVE SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN WHICH BOTH THE EXPERIMENTAL GROUP (AUDIOLINGUAL FRENCH INSTRUCTIONAL EXPERIENCE IN PUBLIC SCHOOL) AND THE CONTROL GROUP (NO PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE) WERE CLOSELY MATCHED WITH RESPECT TO SEX, AGE, LEVEL OF INTELLIGENCE, GENERAL ACHIEVEMENT, AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC RATING. OTHER DETERMINING FACTORS IN THE STUDY WERE THAT THREE OF THE SCHOOLS HAD NO LANGUAGE LABORATORY, ONE SCHOOL GROUPED PUPILS ACCORDING TO EARLIER LANGUAGE TRAINING, AND THE OTHERS GROUPED PUPILS BY CHOICE OF COURSE. SPECIFIC RESULTS SHOW THAT THE LANGUAGE LABORATORY, OR PREVIOUS AUDIOLINGUAL INSTRUCTION, IS OF SOME BENEFIT ON THE BASIS OF LATER ORAL PROFICIENCY TESTING, BUT OF NO USE AND PERHAPS EVEN DETRIMENTAL TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF RESPONSES TO THE FORMAL, STRUCTURAL PATTERNS OF THE NEW LANGUAGE. THE INCONSISTENCY BETWEEN PROGRAM OBJECTIVES AND THE CRITERIA OF TESTING MUST BE CORRECTED TO ACHIEVE MAXIMUM USE OF THE LANGUAGE LABORATORY AND FLES PROGRAMS. CHARTS ON TEST RESULTS AND A SUMMARY BREAKDOWN ARE INCLUDED. (SS)