A Critical Evaluation of First and Second Year German Readers

Mankind has regularly observed that opposition is a most effective stimulus to self improvement. And often enough the opposition is the result of inner weaknesses the correction of which goes a long way toward removing its threat. I believe this to be valid for the state of foreign language instruction in America today. As German teachers we are faced with a threat to our survival. Through boards of education, supervisors and administrations, public opinion is challenging our contribution to democratic education. This is a challenge which we cannot ignore. Complaints that such an attitude is a manifestation of cultural isolationism, or wistful references to the prestige of foreign language instruction in European countries, are not enough. We must turn the searchlight on ourselves and our courses and carefully examine whether public opinion may not possibly be right, as it so often is, in questioning the validity of what we are offering American youth as foreign language training. I do not believe that the public, boards of education and college administrations are necessarily insensible to the value of foreign language instruction. I do believe our efforts will be accepted if we can prove their merit; and I think we will go a long way toward winning the confidence of the public whom we

German · Linguistics · History · Linguistic Education and Pedagogy · Philosophy