THE LABORATORY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ROMANCE LANGUAGES AT MICHIGAN

A room where equipment is available for practice work in foreign languages either for self-instruction or for supervised group study is of great value in supplementing the exercises of the modern language classroom. Such a place with its proper equipment is known a s a language laboratory and in this laboratory primary emphasis is placed on the opportunities offered for oral and aural work. The laboratory may be used by language students at all levels from the beginner to the advanced student of literature, phonetics and dialectology. It also should be open for the casual adult learner a s a means for self-help in language studyor for refreshing the knowledge of a language already studied. The type of language laboratory described above was established in September 1949 by the department of Romance Languages at the University of Michigan. Since it is our hope that this laboratory will eventually form the nucleus of a larger establishment open to all students of foreign languages on the campus of the University, it seems fitting that a description of our first year’s experience should be prepared. The present laboratory is a lineal descendant of two previous laboratories planned and supervised by the present writer. The first of these began to function in the Training Division of the U. S. Navy Department in September 1943 and the second, established in the Peruvian Naval Academy at Callao, Peru, was first used in July 1945. Each successive laboratory has been characterized by improvements both in equipment and in use. In September 1947, a suggestion was made that the department of Romance Languages establish a laboratory or practice room. The chairman of the department named a committee to study the proposal and, under the