A study examined the relationship of time, language teachers' language use, and the qualities of interaction in the language classroom. An introductory section discusses the interest in these issues and the use and development of polychronometric techniques for behavior analysis. Three studies using these techniques to analyze language teacher behaviors follow. One examined the extent to which the components of the language lesson are significant in enhancing learning. The study compared components of five lesson types presented to 11-year-old students of English as a second language. The second compared the five lesson types in terms of the relative duration and frequency of didactic and language behaviors. The third study looked at the relationship between learner language use, teacher language behavior, error correction, and the level of language learning among third- and ninth-grade students. A concluding chapter discusses the studies' findings as they relate to measuring language teaching efficiency. An epilogue addresses the persistent attitude that teaching a foreign language may really be a waste of time. (MSE)