With the growing shortage of time and money for writing new textbooks, particularly in the seldom-taught languages, there is a premium on making effective use of what already exists. A teacher has a choice, not only of accepting or rejecting materials, but adapting or rewriting them. (The fourth possibility is often viewed both as unjustifiably…

This article has four purposes: (1) to define sexism relating to foreign language textbooks; (2) to exemplify manifestations of this s and elimination of sexism in future projects. (CHK)

Recent theories and experiementation running the gamut from the absolute necessity of grammar to its uselessness in teaching a language form the basis of this article. Topics covered are: a typology of the grammar exercise; explicit grammar and linguistic competence; grammar exercises responding to real needs. (Text is in French.) (AMH)

Assuming that ability to communicate is the main goal of foreign language teaching, the article examines a textbook dialogue for its authenticity. An improved version is printed beside the original, and justifications for the changes are given. (Text is in German.) (IFS/WGA)

Examines a number of English teaching textbooks for the terminal junior high school with respect to their culture content, finding overemphasis on London and on history, with too little attention to present-day problems, including daily life in school. Recommends more emphasis on cognitive learning. (Text is in German.) (IFS/WGA)

Using selected lessons from the textbooks "Learning English" (Klett) and "English for Today" (Schrodel-Lensing) for the beginner's level, it is shown that modern-oriented texts, critical of content and having an emancipated outlook, are not presented at all, or only in the beginning. (Text is in German.) (IFS/WGA)

Reviews four approaches to selecting language textbooks and outlines points to be considered before selecting. (CK)

This paper describes Leondard Bloomfield's contributions to the description and instruction of German. Bloomfield's approach is reflected in this textbook "First German Book" which appeared in 1923 and was revised in 1928. The organization and structure of the text are described here in detail, and the differences between the first and…

This is an alphabetized list of 400 frequent German words for rapid checking against the end glossaries of elementary German textbooks. The emphasis is on words that would not automatically be included in any such textbook as part of the structural and morphological inventory of German. Words on the list were selected from the list in order of…

Reports on an FL teaching experiment in grades 5 and 6 (gymnasium), using "La France en direct 1" (Hachette). Concludes that the text can be used with younger beginners, but is less suited for orientation classes because it is not amenable to flexibility of method. (Text is in German.) (IFS/WGA)

This article presents a survey of textbooks for second-year college Spanish courses published in the last ten years. (CFM)

Vocabulary in first-year high school and college level German texts was studied. It was suggested that textbook authors use published word frequency lists to develop teaching materials that are practical, useful, and relevant to the process of communication. A word list occurring in 12 textbooks is presented in descending frequency. (SW)