Area study materials should be factual, contemporary, objective, and designed with regard to the student's level. Content should be limited to material contrasting with, or supplementary to, the students' knowledge. Penguin's series "Connexions" is better than available German texts. (Text is in German.) (IFS/WGA)

Many current French textbooks and teaching plans (in Germany) cling to obsolete usages and forms (e.g., imperfect subjunctive), as "bon usage," and to "educated" pronunciation. Teachers should teach living, present-day French, rather than the available teaching material. (Text is in German.) (IFS/WGA)

Deals with "area study" aspects of the teaching of English in schools and colleges. Using as an example the British monarchy, it is shown how "area study" elements are handled in schoolbooks in use today. Suggestions relating to the subject are also offered. (IFS/WGA)

Describes and compares five basic German texts for high school students and includes the evaluative criteria used. (CK)

Discusses texts in the audiovisual field, giving controversial viewpoints in methodology and pedagogy: late introduction of writing, teaching grammar, the use of pictures, significance of memorizing, etc. Second part offers for discussion a catalog of criteria which may offer assistance in the selection of suitable audiovisual courses. (Text is in…

Pupils taught by the course "Speak Out" did better in a conventional preliminary test (school textbook type) than control groups. Construction, grading and results of the tests are described, and possible reasons are given for the better performance of the "Speak Out" groups. (Text is in German.) (IFS/WGA)

This article provides an analysis of textbooks available for teaching French civilization and ranging in orientation from subjective, historical, geographical, cultural and sociological approaches to anthropological, semiotic, comparative and linguistic ones. The content and the format of the texts is dealt with, as well as various teaching…

Proposes a system that can be used to analyze and evaluate any language teaching method at any level, by breaking down a particular method and comparing it to another, in terms of linguistic and sociocultural content, methodological organization; and physical quality. (AM)

Based on an examination of numerous manuals, the current content and approaches to the study of French contemporary civilization are presented. Analytic commentary is provided of the books considered. (SW)

Discusses the treatment and the image of women in the Speak English series of instructional materials for English as a second language. (Text is in French.) (CLK)

This study has as its point of departure the nature of the passive and the linguistic point of view on it taken by textbooks. Topics treated are; passive voice or sentence; surface and deep structure; passive transformation; its relationship to the message; textbooks and their function. (Text is in French.) (AMH)