The language laboratory could make a larger impact than it does on undergraduate language study. The growth of attractive new technology makes even more important the careful evaluation and exploitation of existing technology. A major obstacle in doing this is the lack of careful and rigorous research about the effectiveness of the language laboratory in achieving specific objectives in specific courses in which the laboratory has been given a specific role. Another obstacle has been the limiting of laboratory use to lower-level courses. It is time for the language laboratory to be viewed less as a teaching aid and more as a learning aid. This suggests that its principal value might be in independent study, which would affect the teacher's role and materials and course design. An experiment at the University of Bradford (England) illustrates the successful integration of language laboratory use into an undergraduate language course. (MSE)