The overemphasis of writing in foreign language instruction deserves examination. Large segments of time are allotted to writing because, traditionally, grades for written work are often the only ones employed to evaluate achievement. The origins of these practices are to be found primarily in Luther's rejection of the oral tradition of the Church, and in his attempt to transmit the word of God as accurately as possible by returning to the original sources in his bible translation. Luther considered the salvation of the soul to be the most compelling objective of education. The subsequent coincidence of the founding of public schools, which later served as models for our own, and the ascendance to primacy of the written word, conceived the writing bias. As modern educators, we must attempt to de‐mythologize writing by scrutinizing the function of writing in society and in the schools. The majority of our students have neither the psychological nor the practical need to learn to write the foreign language. Speech must be promoted by reorganizing classroom activities around oral exercises and tests, making use of the cassette recorder. These practices will result in a greater sense of student achievement and a proportionate decrease in hostility toward foreign language study.
The present state of the FL teaching profession is analogous to the situation of the dodo bird in 1598 when the Dutch landed on Mauritius. As in the case of the dodo, our protected environment has not conditioned us to the changes now required of us for survival. The changing goals and conditions of formal education demand new objectives, attitudes, and procedures in the teaching of FLs. Avenues of innovation which merit exploration are: the decentralization and individualization of FL instruction; a predominately social science orientation in FL teacher education; and a greater emphasis on culture in an anthropological sense in the FL classroom. Literature in its present academic form must be relegated to secondary status if today's students are to find relevance in FL courses. If we are to rejoin the mainstream of life, service must become the hallmark of our offerings since language is an end in itself only to us; to the rest of humanity it is a means to an end. Failure to adjust to changing conditions will result in a fate similar to that of the dumb dodo.
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