This review of the state of foreign language education in the United States notes that early grammar-translation methods gave way to the Army Method during World War II. Students learned both inductively and deductively and acquired primarily oral-aural competence, with reading and writing as secondary goals. Not until the late 1950s did the audiolingual method become dominant in the academic world, with tapes, new textbooks and language laboratories and the support of the 1958 National Defense Education Act. FLES (foreign languages in the elementary schools) programs enrolled two million children by 1964. By the late 1960s, the cognitive-code approach to foreign language teaching took over, with the goal of equal competence in oral-aural, writing and reading skills. The number of workshops and inservice training programs for language teachers increased. The 1970s show a shift toward more humanistic education and individualized instruction, although the need for continual and diligent study, pronunciation instruction and the supportiveness of group learning may dictate against individualized study. Foreign language study has declined sharply in the past several years. To counteract this trend, schools should emulate the relevance of schools like Berlitz; content courses taught in the foreign language, which some colleges offer; and courses that train students for careers that involve foreign languages. (CHK)