Educational screen & audio-visual guide (c1956-1971])

AUDIO by Max U, Bildersee We've been up to our ears — in sound, of course— for the past month. And much of it has been good, and equally much has been interesting from your standpoint and mine. We wandered slowly through the several exhibit halls in Cincinnati at the DAVI meeting. More sound was evident than at any previous exhibit we've been at and this was gratifying. Equipmentwise, the language laboratories were there in full force. There was Audio Teaching Center, Audiotronics, Cousino Electronics Corporation, Instructomatic, Langua-Lab, Magnetic Recording Industries, March and Associates, Mobile-Tronics, Monitor Language Laboratories, RCAVictor, Rheem-Califone, Science Electronics and Universal Language Laboratories Corporation. Each of them showed the advantages of audio language instruction and each spoke in terms of the use of tape as a medium for language instruction. And this year there were more record producers present, too. This Ust includes the American Book Company, Cultural History Research, Inc. (featuring recorded lectures on art), Encyclopaedia Britannica Films, Folkways Records, Jam Handy, Linguaphone, McGraw-Hill and Stanbow Productions. Then there were a number of record players and tape recorders being shown by Audio-Master, Bell and Howell, Dukane, Foringer and Company, Miles Reproducer Company, Newcomb Audio Products, North American Philips Corporation, V-M Corporation and Webcor. This simple list represents about a quarter of the exhibitors, a good showing far ahead of previous years. It was interesting to follow the crowds as they examined the materials and equipment at the show. Previous 'glamor' exhibits were somehow less attractive. The language laboratories, still a challenge in many communities, drew many spectators. There was considerable interest in Instructional Materials for the language laboratories and many questions were asked in this direction. But the really busy exhibitors were showing teaching machines. These were simple ma chines, some of them, which required the skills of reading, writing and pushing buttons. Others were highly complex electronic equipment that even timed the responses and scored the student accordingly. But, as in the case of language laboratories not too long ago, there was an admitted need for more and still more program material for the teaching machines. Just as each new complex machine comes into the market there is demonstrated again the need not only for equipment but also for adequate and superior materials. Machines are lasting, materials are used and gone insofar as the individual student is concerned, and new materials must be supplied all the time. Material for language laboratories is beginning to emerge on the market in greater quantity. The major suppliers today are Folkways Records (the disc recorded material is available on tape), Henry Holt (disc or tape can be secured, but the same material is on each), Linguaphone (reissuing material previously available only on disc) and EMC. There is still a great need for more specially prepared tape recorded material for language laboratories. From Cincinnati we journeyed east through Washington to Baltimore where we audited the tapes of some new language records soon to be offered by Oppenheimer: Publishers (4805 Nelson Avenue, Baltimore 15). You will recall that, using the Cabot label, Oppenheimer introduced the Fur language sliidies. very popular H-R-S (Hear-RepeatSpeak) language records for children in French, Spanish, German, Italian, Hebrew and Russian that have been so widely accepted and used for ]) liminary language instruction in I grades. Now they are offering mc advanced material using Gateway the keyword. We heard Gateway ' French (Oppenheimer: Publishers catalogue number 4201) which c be used on the junior and senior hi; school level by students who have h some work in the language. T\ aspects which are important a added: language recognition in t printed fonn through the accompar ing student manual, and rapid aui response to the record. Students woi ing alone— and classes working in ui son— can use these records for vocab lary building, aural comprehensi and speech practice. These records are sufficiently i expensive that they can be added school library collections and loani overnight and over weekends to st dents who want to practice on thi own. And of course their parents w want to practice, too. We were interested to note th Let's Look At Great Paintings (E Screen, March 1960) attracted t attention of the Dave Garroway sts and was the subject of part of one their telecasts. We learned when \ were in Baltimore that this superi recording had had excellent press i ception and that both public ai school acceptance was higher tli: the producer had anticipated. We went on to New York to 'Ici an ear' to the new The Anatomy Language (Folkways FI 9108) wlii' is an instructional tool debberatr designed for high school seniors .u juniors. This is primarily an intensi review for college entrance and scIk arship examinations. It can, of coui be used in regular English classes. Included is a selection from liter ture: "The Breaking of the Win Cask" which you will recognize as short excerpt from Charles Dickens' Tale of Two Cities. This is read f literary values as a portion of the Id son on "How To Write an Effecti' Composition" and the listener is war ed to seek the devices used by tl author to arrest attention, develop i terest in his characters and appeal the senses and emotions. This reading is part of the secti( in the record series devoted to cor position. Under this heading, "Narr tivc and Descriptive Writing" pr cedes a discussing of "Exposition: C ganizing and Writing an Essay." addition to composition, attention directed to reading comprehension ai word relationships in special sectior By far the greatest proportion of tl series of 14 lessons is devoted to i 240 Educational Screen and Audiovisual Guide — May, 199