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Modern Foreign Languages in the Comprehensive Secondary School

The 1958-59 Major Project of the NASSP Committee on Curriculum Planning and Development

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 December 2020

Extract

This report of recommendations on modern foreign languages is the second part of a six-year sequence in curriculum study of the National Association of Secondary-School Principals. Within the six-year period, it is planned to portray the components of a balanced secondary-school curriculum.

The timetable of this report began when an Ad Hoc Committee of national experts and administrators met in November 1958 to agree on a statement of position on modern foreign languages in junior and senior high schools. The tentative paper they formulated was submitted for analysis and discussion by principals attending the 43rd Annual Convention in Philadelphia, February 7-11, 1959. In light of the comments and suggestions made by these principals, the statement was revised and then resubmitted to the Ad Hoc Committee. Thereafter, further revisions were made. The report now appears in completed form and is believed to represent the informed judgment of thousands of secondary-school leaders and modern language specialists throughout the nation.

The Committee on Curriculum Planning and Development officially adopted these recommendations and the Executive Committee officially approved them, May 7, 1959.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Modern Language Association of America, 1959

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References

* Reprinted from The Bulletin of the National Association of Secondary School Principals, 1 June 1959.

1 Committee members: Delmas F. Miller, Principal, University High School, West Virginia Univ., Chairman; Samuel M. Graves, Principal, Gamaliel Bradford High School, Wellesley, Mass.; J. Frank Malone, Principal, Northwest Classen High School, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Charles E. Manwiller, Director of Curriculum Development and Research, Pittsburgh Public Schools; Paul W. Pinckney, Principal, Oakland High School, Oakland, California; Theodore D. Rice, Professor of Education, Wayne State Univ., Detroit; Woodrow W. Wilkerson, Director, Division of Secondary Education, State Department of Education, Richmond, Virginia.

2 Ad Hoc Committee members: Delmas F. Miller, Principal, University High School, West Virginia University, Morgantown, W. Va.; Chairman, Committee on Curriculum Planning and Development, NASSP; Chairman; Theodore Andersson, Professor of Romance Languages, University of Texas, Austin, Texas; Robert G. Andree, Superintendent, Rich Township High School, Park Forest, Ill.; Emma Marie Birkmaier, Coordinator, International Teacher Development Program, School of Education, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas; Nelson Brooks, Associate Professor, Master of Arts in Teaching Program, Graduate School, Yale University, New Haven Conn.; Shirley Cooper, Associate Secretary, American Association of School Administrators, Washington, D. C; Marjorie C. Johnston, Specialist for Foreign Languages, U. S. Office of Education, Washington, D. C; General Consultant; James D. Logsdon, Superintendent-Principal, Thornton Township High School and Junior College, Harvey, Ill.; Forrest E. Long, Professor of Education, New York University, New York, N. Y.; Archibald T. MacAllister, Professor of Italian and Director of Language Instruction, Department of Romance Languages and Literatures, Princeton University, Princeton, N. J.; Earl J. McGrath, Executive Officer, Institute of Higher Education, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, N. Y.; Theodore D. Rice, Professor of Education, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan; Mary P. Thompson, Director of Curriculum and Instruction, Glastonbury Public Schools, Glastonbury, Conn.; Paul E. Elicker, Executive Secretary, NASSP, Washington, D. C.; ex officio; George R. Shattuck, Principal, Norwich Free Academy, Norwich, Conn.; President, NASSP; ex officio; Ellsworth Tompkins, Associate Secretary for Administrative Services, NASSP, Washington, D. C.; ex officio.

1 The Place of Science and Mathematics in the Comprehensive Secondary-School Program. Approved by the Executive Committee of the National Association of Secondary-School Principals, June 1958.

2 “Aural” means by ear and “oral” means by speech. Consequently, the aural-oral method means that the student has to hear the modern foreign language and then practice speaking it. The term “audio-lingual” also refers to this approach.