Teaching English by Radio in Costa Rica

O NE of the most popular radio programs in Costa Rica is one known as the Escuela del Aire. This program was undertaken by the Coordination Committee (Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs) in San Jose with the idea of trying to satisfy in part the tremendous popular demand for English lessons. The demand for a knowledge of English was so widespread that it was decided to broadcast lessons over one or more stations. Accordingly, in June, 1943, arrangements were made for a two-station hook-up to transmit a fifteen-minute lesson every evening of the week except Saturday and Sunday from 8:45 to 9:00 P.M. In view of the fact that a radio program is presented before a silent audience it was felt that the emphasis should be placed on pronunciation. Furthermore, a lesson broadcast in the form of a monologue is less interesting and colorful than dialogue and conversation. Hence, it was decided to conduct a class in the studio. This in turn led to the suggestion that printed materials which could be used by both the class and the listeners would add both effectiveness and interest. With this in mind, a small pamphlet of ten lessons was prepared and printed. While this pamphlet was being printed a second was prepared containing another ten lessons. These books were printed and distributed to all who wanted them at a nominal price. This small charge was made in order to insure that only those who were sincerely interested in studying English would request them. Each lesson in the books treats of a different topic and therefore a different vocabulary. A third and a fourth book are in preparation. Upon examination of these books it will be noted that each lesson offers a vocabulary followed by a short list of idiomatic expressions. This in turn is followed by reading material in the form of short sentences showing how to use the vocabulary and how to construct English sentences. Then comes conversation based on the preceding vocabulary and sentences, including the idiomatic expressions. Some lessons include a short study of the forms of certain verbs, the comparison of adjectives, the future auxiliary, and the like. Finally, each lesson concludes with an exercise, which is to be written out and sent in by the radio-students for correction. As was suggested above, the actual lesson is broadcast with the aid of a group of students who gather around the microphone in the studio

Linguistics · Linguistic Studies and Language Acquisition · Media and Digital Communication · Philosophy