PUB TYPE Historical Materials (060)

This paper discusses the history of language laboratories. It was Edison's invention of the tin foil phonograph in 1877 that made the first language laboratories possible. It was used for a foreign language class for the first time in 1891. At first, records were mainly used to preserve rare languages, but in the late 1800s and early 1900s, correspondence courses were developed using records. Students listened to records, recorded their own voices speaking the languages, and sent their recordings back to the company for evaluation. The proc,Aures used by these early correspondence schools established methods that were later used in language laboratories. Between 1900 and 1950, equipment became more sophisticated, with the invention and development of tape recorders and television, and schools began establishing language laboratories. Language laboratories were given impetus by funds provided when the National Defense Education Act was passed in 1958. Various language laboratory programs and studies done on their effectiveness are described. Contains 23 references. (Author/JL) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document