AN EXPERIMENTAL ELEMENTARY FRENCH COURSE WAS ESTABLISHED AT THE UNIVERSITY LEVEL AND EVALUATED ON ITS PEDAGOGICAL EFFICIENCY, ADMINISTRATIVE FEASIBILITY, AND ACHIEVEMENT-MOTIVATIONAL CAPABILITY. THE COURSE FEATURED INTENSIVE CONTACT WITH LINGUISTICS, SELF-INSTRUCTION, AND SELF-PACING. (FOR DETAILS ON THE COURSE ORGANIZATION, SEE ED 010 465, A PRELIMINARY REPORT.) RESULTS OF THE EXPERIMENTAL COURSE WERE COMPARED TO THOSE OF CONVENTIONAL FRENCH SEQUENCES OVER A 3 1/2-YEAR PERIOD. ONE OF THE MORE SUCCESSFUL FEATURES OF THE COURSE WAS ITS FLEXIBLE FRAMEWORK BY WHICH GIFTED OR MOTIVATED STUDENTS COULD PROGRESS MORE RAPIDLY WHILE WEAKER STUDENTS COULD MOVE AT A PACE GEARED TO THEIR ABILITIES WITHOUT BEING PENALIZED. DROPOUT RATES BETWEEN EXPERIMENTAL AND CONTROL (CONVENTIONAL) STUDENTS WERE INSIGNIFICANT. THE NOVELTY OF THE EXPERIMENTAL COURSE WAS NOT DETRIMENTAL TO STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT. EMPHASIS ON LABORATORY WORK ENHANCED SPEAKING ABILITIES BUT DETRACTED FROM READING AND WRITING SKILLS. THE SKILL OF LISTENING COMPREHENSION WAS NOT AFFECTED. REACTIONS OF INSTRUCTORS AND STUDENTS WHO ACTIVELY PARTICIPATED IN THE EXPERIMENT WERE POSITIVE. THE MAJOR PROBLEM WAS THE FUNDAMENTAL INCOMPATIBILITY BETWEEN THE EXPERIMENT'S EMPHASIS ON AUDIOLINGUAL PROFICIENCY AND THE OBJECTIVE OF READING PROFICIENCY IN CONVENTIONAL FRENCH INSTRUCTION. (SEE ED 010 464 FOR AN INTERMEDIATE PREPROGRAMED TEXT USED IN THE EXPERIMENTAL COURSE.) (JH)