Language Laboratory

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31153, 1 September 1966, Page 9

Language Laboratory

For a comparatively modest outlay, the Cashmere High] School has established its own language laboratory, a new venture for schools in this area. Cashmere’s version of the language laboratory is a group of five tape recorders connected to 20 headsets-microphones. These enable taped material to be broadcast and heard by 20 students. Those who have tape recorders simply listen, press a switch when they speak themselves, and everything is recorded on their individual tapes for re-play and selfchecking or teacher checking. As they speak they hear them-

selves in their headsets and compare their responses with the “answers” which next fol- ■ low on the broadcast system. Those with headsets only are unable to record but can do everything else mentioned earlier. Everything Is automatic: the programme is switched on—all machines start up; the teacher presses a switch — everything stops; he makes a

necessary comment over the system through his microphone, then he switches on the programme again. It is proposed for the present to use the laboratory mainly for senior students and the smaller language groups taking French and German. The German course begun this year stresses aural-oral competency as a basis for later reading and writing. Next year the school will be trying out a similar French course at the request of the Education Department. Both these courses will be well served by the facilities of the language laboratory which, although not at present equipped to accommodate a full class of 36. can be adapted and expanded without exhorbitant expense. One further advantage of this equipment still has to be looked at more closely. It is almost certain that it can be used effectively for teaching English, as it will be this year, for instance, for Cashmere students from South-East Asia.