The Modular Concept in Language Teaching

Abstract

they should be failed. Some students rarely respond correctly in drills. Students from Russian-speaking backgrounds often speak with beautiful phonetics but atrocious grammar. There are errors in grammar and pronunciation which occur persistently. Some grammar units are never covered in class or in grammar books. The vocabulary learned in class is often not what is needed for conversation. Students are frequently unprepared for study in the Soviet Union, although instructors are now increasingly aware of what background is required. Students tend to forget vocabulary and grammar after vacations, illnesses, study programs away from campus, and semesters when they did not take Russian. No pedagogue can hope to solve these problems in a lifetime, let alone in one paper. But perhaps the reason why solutions are not forthcoming is that the traditional textbook-based, sequential course cannot supply the answer. In this paper I wish to propose a different way of teaching individual areas within Russian: the modular method. Modules are nothing new-at least not in electronics. We are familiar with the solid-state units which inhabit our television sets and can be easily lifted in and out. In general modules are self-contained units for accomplishing specific tasks contributing to the completion of the overall task. The modular method, without depriving the language teacher of the traditional resources, puts at his disposal a few new ones, such as computers, teaching machines, and various audiovisual combinations. Modules have been developed for computerassisted instruction and for individualized language training under the socalled Keller plan, where students set their own goals and learn at their own