Recounts efforts made between 1801 and 1806 by French physician Itard to educate Victor, a boy found living in the wild in Aveyron. Explains how Itard's work with Victor, which met with limited success, led to the establishment of a school for educating clinical idiots. Describes procedures developed by Itard that are basic to the current…

Describes a one-year experiment in self-directed learning for intermediate English students at the School of Mining Engineering of Nancy (France). Analyzes students' responses to a questionnaire and teachers' observations in an attempt to evaluate the effectiveness of this approach as compared to traditional second language courses. (MES)