In the twentieth century, both the need and the opportunities for acquiring a foreign language have greatly increased. However, even today, foreign language instruction has not been firmly established worldwide as an essential element of basic education. In Great Britain, enthusiasm for foreign language instruction has risen and fallen repeatedly.…

Designed as a resource for persons interested in improving the quality of teaching and student learning, this book covers aspects of the teaching-learning process that can be altered with relative ease. Practical suggestions are given in chapters focusing on concepts known to have a strong influence on student learning. The chapters include: (1)…

Methods, their rationale, and exercises for Open University tutors are presented. The book is divided into two parts, the first concerning practical issues of how to actually teach students to learn and the second dealing with theoretical issues and the rationale for the teaching methods described in Part I. Part I, "A Student-Centered…

Teachers and teacher educators seem to be little aware of some major concepts about instruction that provide important insights into the central requirements for learning. A common misconception is that motivation has to do with wanting or desiring. It is instead attention to stimuli that is influenced by two powerful agents--(1) suspense,…

This module on enhancing motivation is the eighth of 11 modules in the set, Introduction to Teaching Adults. Designed to meet the learning needs of part-time continuing education instructors, these modules can be used as resource materials for local workshops or study-discussion groups, as self-instruction (each module takes approximately two…

This study attempts to make a broad appraisal of the needs experienced by students of foreign languages in the schools. The object of the study is to draw up a methodology and offer a set of didactic tools which will help to progress toward the overall educational objectives of the Modern Languages Project of the Council of Europe. The starting…

Ten papers are presented dealing with the rationale, theory, methodology, development, and teacher-training in the suggestopedic systems of second language instruction. The papers are as follows: (1) "The Bulgarian Experience," by Georgi Lozanov; (2) "Swedish Commentary on Suggestopedia," by Christer Landahl; (3)…

THIS STUDY INVESTIGATES THE POTENTIALLY FACILITATIVE AND INHIBITORY EFFECTS OF SOCIAL INTERACTION DURING PROGRAMED INSTRUCTION. SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES WERE (1) TO IDENTIFY THE PARTICULAR ASPECTS OF SOCIAL INTERACTION CRITICAL TO FACILITATING OR INHIBITING PROGRAMED LEARNING, AND (2) TO DETERMINE THE METHOD OF CONSTRUCTING WORK GROUPS THAT OPTIMIZES…

This article reviews some of the research literature dealing with factors which contribute to success in acquiring second language speaking skills. Language attitudes, cognitive style variables (i.e., field dependence and independence; overgeneralization and negative transfer from the native language), personality variables (tolerance of…

IN 1965, THE TASK FORCE ON TEACHING ENGLISH TO THE DISADVANTAGED TRIED TO IDENTIFY THE PROBLEMS IN THE FIELD OF ADULT BASIC BY VISITING 35 PROGRAMS IN 15 STATES AND COLLECTING SOME 1,300 PIECES OF INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIAL. AMONG THE PROBLEMS OBSERVED WERE THE LACK OF WRITTEN OPERATIONAL OBJECTIVES DESIGNED AROUND THE STUDENTS' GOALS AND NEEDS, BROAD…

Basic emotional and intellectual factors in motivation can help to stimulate the learner to acquire the five major literacy skills: listening, speaking, thinking, reading, and writing. Contagion, or the spread effect in psychology, is reflected in the readily communicated attitude of the teacher toward students and teaching itself. Similarly,…

The purpose of this study was to measure the self-concept of students enrolled in "Man: A Course of Study" and compare those results with students enrolled in other social studies classrooms. Seven-hundred and twenty-one MACOS students and 736 non-MACOS students in Atlanta public elementary schools participated in the survey. The…

This study explores the effects of physical differences in the architectural design of schools by comparing behavioral and performance variables for two groups of pupils: (1) those who had previously attended an open space school, and (2) those who had always attended classes in a traditionally built school. Three major variables are examined:…

A study designed to test effects of cartoon characters on the behavior of preschool disadvantaged children in an educational setting explored the use of cartoons as complementary additions to work materials. Because the 83 Head Start subjects had not been introduced to the alphabet an experimental set of worksheets was made which used the 26…

A special Training Institute on Problems of School Desegregation was held at the North Carolina Advancement School; the project was undertaken to determine the degree of attitude change related to group learning method, social attitude set, and characteristics of race, sex, and age among 72 teachers and counselors participating in an adult…