chronicle

[L Malcolm]

On Thu, 8 Mar 2001, gthomson wrote:

>
> This is one way to respond to the allegation of ineffectiveness in
> language teaching--point out that something other than language
> ability can be a worthy goal. But what would be wrong with simply
> making the language teaching more effective? Douglas' approach here
> has the advantage of leaving current, allegedly ineffective, teaching
> practices intact, which may save a lot of  money and labour...
>
> Greg Thomson

-------------------------

As a former student of Prof. Clayton, I can attest that he is a fantastic
teacher of language and I don't think he made his point as a defence of
complacency. He merely points out that there are many reasons to study
language, and that the experience is valuable from many standpoints. As
you have all said, it is a cultural and intellectual experience, as well
as one that gives the benefit of a new way of communicating. What Prof.
Maxwell appears to forget is that people don't usually study foreign
languages in a vaccuum -- they often combine their language courses with
literature, history, political science, art, etc. to create a well-rounded
course of study.

Lindsay Johnston
MA, University of Ottawa

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