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This study compared the pattern of relationships among various indices of attitude, aptitude, and second-language achievement obtained by two samples of students enrolled in either a traditionally oriented or an audio-lingual French course. The data were analysed separately for each sample by means of factor analyses. Considerable agreement was found between the factor structures obtained for the two samples; the results are related to Gardner and Lambert's (1959) two process approach to die study of second-language acquisition. Several differences in French performance were found and are discussed with reference to the kind of course to which students were exposed.Research in the area of second language acquisition initially stressed the importance of a series of skills or abilities assumed to underlie achievement and proficiency in the second language (e.g., Carroll, 1962;Henmon, 1929; Wittenbom & Larsen, 1944). Typical of this approach is the work of Carroll and Sapon (1959) in the development of the Modern Language Aptitude Test (MLAT), an instrument that attempts to measure those ability factors which are predictive of second language achievement but which are also relatively independent of more general indices of intelligence (Carroll, 1962; Gardner & Lambert, 1965).More recently however, investigators have shown an interest in examining the influence of motivational and attitudinal variables in conjunction with abilities in second-language learning (e.g.

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Two hundred children in grades K-3 were administered a test designed to assess knowledge of letter names in both upper-and lowercase primary type. Children exhibited better knowledge of upper-than lowercase letter names. Rank order, correlational analyses performed to determine the relationship of letter naming to visual discrimination and letter frequency revealed different patterns for upper-and lowercase letters. A subsequent, factor analytic treatment of the data also suggested differences in upper-and lowercase letter naming. Results are related to reading readiness norms and pedagogical implications are dealt with briefly.