Language Laboratory in the High School: Dinosaur or Valuable Tool for the Teaching of Foreign Languages?

Abstract

In recent years there has been much discussion of the language laboratory and its application and use on the high school level. The purpose of this article is to clarify the significant difference between the language laboratory of the past and the "Language Resource Center" of today.  The name "Language Laboratory" needs to be modernized and redefined. The connotation is negative. The new "Language Resource Center" must be not only a language lab, but also a resource center, a central focus of a high school language department. This facility has a definite place in the high school of the eighties and can be set in place with a minimum of space and effort.