Some questions concerning foreign language learning and research topics are considered. One discussion question is why education and speech communication research has neglected the special case of second language communication as a source of information on the communication process in general. The need for research into the functional, operational difference between grammar and style is noted. Another disucssion question concerns how some people can pick up a language without formal instruction when staying in a foreign country. A widespread problem of language instruction that researchers have recently begun to investigate is how much English is needed for some blue collar jobs. New approaches start with an analysis of the situation and the operational purposes of communicating. Another discussion question concerns how to determine when a student is beginning to think in a new language and how to adapt instructional techniques to take advantage of it. An additional question concerns how rapidly that skill will decline without practice. A last question concerns how to measure degrees of foreign language skill. (SW)