The techniques used in teaching spoken and written English must be re-evaluated, and more effort should be directed toward helping individuals develop adequate ways of acquiring language skills. Classroom models that confront students with texts they cannot read effectively, and that compel them to repeat words and sentences in a chorus should be done away with. With this technique, students cannot hear themselves and are unlikely to hear one another. Individual assessment also becomes impossible. Teachers must be provided with adequate training support and must learn to be sensitive to cultural issues. English-as-a-Second-Language teachers must become basic skills teachers. An effective instructional approach to language should: (1) allow the learner to learn quickly, while enjoying the learning process; (2) create an atmosphere conducive to full learner participation; (3) provide sufficient intellectual challenge; (4) move from the known to the unknown, concept to element, immediate to remote, simple to more complex, and concrete to abstract; (5) encourage genuine exchanges between students and teachers; (6) develop fertile ground for reading and writing skill acquisition; and (7) promote learning by giving the learner a sense of responsibility and empowerment. (MSE)