LANGUAGE HIGHLIGHTS NUMBER 5 WINTER ISSUE 74-75

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP78-03090A000400010001-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 22
• Document Creation Date: November 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 7, 2000
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: January 1, 1974
• Content Type: REPORT

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The Office of Training's Language School changed
its name during a reorganization of OTR components
earlier this year. It is now known as:
Address inquiries about language training to
OTh/LLC, room 401, Chamber of Commerce Buildin
NATIONAL SECURITY INFORMATION
Unauthorized Disclosure Subject to Criminal Sanctions
C osslfed by 058212
E?empt from General Dec Iassif e:otfon Scbe-0
of E0 11652, ,eeempr lorr co+egery
5Br2
Automatl cnlly n orirrse fietd on:
date ~mpossibfe to deferrruae
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NUMBER 5
hkttLIif'1ti WINTER ISSUE 74-75
Language Highlights is published periodically
by the Language Learning Center of the Office of
Training. Inquiries, comments and contributions
should be addressed to the Editor, extension 3271,
Room 401 Chamber of Commerce Building.
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CONTENTS
TOTAL IMMERSION CIA STYLE
4
ABOUT S-3: OPEN MEMORANDUM
TO A BRANCH CHIEF
8
NEW GERMAN TAPES
10
ANNOUNCEMENTS
1.1
LANGUAGE TESTING SYMPOSIUM
13
"DON'T SPEAK TO ME IN THAT
TONE OF VOICE"
14
LANGUAGE QUIZ
16
TABLE OF ARTICLES FROM PAST
ISSUES OF LANGUAGE HIGHLIGHTS
17
WHAT'S YOUR LANGUAGE SPEAKING
PROFICIENCY?
Back Cover
Editor-in-Chief:
Managing Editor:
Contributors
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25X1C
Next 2 Page(s) In Document Exempt
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TOTAL IMMERSION -
CIA STYLE
Live night and day in Russian ----- or in French! Is
that the best way to learn a language or is it a trauma
that will turn off a student's interest in learning lan-
guages forever? And what can a student realistically
expect to learn in that time? The Language Learning
(.enter (LLC) asked itself those questions last year, and
started an experiment to find the answers. In October,
1973 and April, 1974, the LLC put groups of 12 students
in Russian and 11 in French under conditions of "Total
Immersion" (TI) at the
With the exception of a week-end break at the mid-point,
the students spoke nothing but the target language dur-
ing all their waking hours. By the time this article
goes to print, a third course will have been run in Span-
ish for 12 students as well.
"Total Immersion" is not necessarily the best way
for every adult language student to learn a second lan-
guage. For a beginner, with no previous knowledge of
the language, it is a system more likely to produce
tension and fatigue than greater language proficiency,
despite the advertisements of the commercial language
schools. Since the beginner has no framework in which
to absorb the new structures he meets, and no point of
reference for new words he hears, he spends a good part
of his early exposure to the language in sorting out
what to him is a barrage of meaningless sounds. Total
Immersion for him is largely a listening comprehension
or passive exercise. However, for the student with
some background in the language, the situation is quite
different. A formalized TI environment with a faculty
of native speakers to monitor and correct the student's
speech is probably a better way to learn than living
in the target country. In the actual target culture,
learning is random. The speakers around the learner
are listening more to what he says than how he says it.
Out of politeness, they are not likely to critique or
correct his errors at all. The learner is on his own
to correct his mistakes, and he may not be aware of
them. In a TI setting, his listeners are at the same
time professional instructors. The listening and
speaking environment is controlled, and is specifically
designed to help students improve their oral ability.
Students are made aware of their mistakes so they are
capable of self-correction later on. For the student
with a skill of S-2 or above, a TI experience can be
extremely constructive.
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Total Immersion is, of course, routinely used in
the LLC's language courses. Almost all students who
are in full-time training for more than two months take
part in at least one TI exercise lasting two or three
And
popular and so productive an exercise ti- awe house is
filled with language students virtually every week of
the year. The LLC had a basis of successful experience
to draw on, therefore in setting up its ambitious TI
experiment at the But there were still questions
to be resolved be making a decision to use long-
term TI (i.e. several weeks) as a regular part of Lan-
guage Center training. For example:
-Can we, by compressing 300 hours of training into
four weeks (instead of nine), reduce the number of weeks
of training and get the same--perhaps even better--
results?
-----How well will students and faculty react to living
together under the demanding conditions of TI training
over 15 hours of teacher/student contact each day for 24
days, including 2 week-ends?
-----What are the problems that are likely to arise in
such training (fatigue, stress, boredom, group tensions,
etc.)?
-----What teaching strategies are most effective (lec-
tures, role-playing situations, formal grammar sessions,
films, problem-solving exercises, group vs. individual
activities?
-----What is the best student mix (men and women, DDO
officers vs. non-DDO personnel, various levels of pro-
ficiency, officers at different grades and experience)?
And the proper student/teacher ratio?
-----Can a program of strengthening general language
skills he reconciled with a curriculum to teach speci-
fic professional vocabulary (i.e., can students at
level S-2 move up to S-3 while spending a good part of
their training time on materials related to Agency
operations)?
With the answers to such questions as its objectives,
the LLC staff worked with participating components to
draw up a set of learning objectives for the students.
As an example, here are some of the objectives of the
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French House. At the conclusion of training, the student
was to be able to do the following in French:
1. Comprehend and transcribe numbers of all kinds
including dates, names, places, even when given quickly
or with some audio interference.
2. Give an accurate description of a variety of
people, including age, physical features, facial charac-
teristics, and clothing.
3. Describe the background of a person (including
nationality, occupation, education, residences and per-
sonal interests).
4. Assess and evaluate people and facts in specific
operational situations where there is conflicting informa-
tion.
5. Arrange a meeting at a given time and place by
phone; describe the place and individuals; understand
the same details given back on the phone and report
them to someone else.
6. Handle the first half-hour of an interview with
a walk-in.
7. Gather information in a non-structured environ-
ment, such as a cocktail party, accidental meeting, etc.
8. Learn the vocabulary and structures needed to
handle and train an agent.
As the above list indicates, the daily program was one
of constant activity and variety. Each morning started
with formal grammar classes, followed by intensive work
on current events. There were also student presenta-
tions, lectures, and demonstrations by language-quali-
fied Agency officers, work-related role-playing prob-
lems, films, video tapes, social gatherings, parlor
games, and sports ----- all in the target language.
Only French or Russian was spoken, even during meals and
the short periods of free time. The physical environment
was decorated with target language proverbs and posters.
In the French exercise there were even French grafitti in
the men's room.
The students were exposed to so many different
speakers in so many types of impromptu situations, that
they learned to cope with the unexpected in the target
language. At the end of the first week, most had overcome
the normal inhibitions of a foreigner groping for the
correct word or phrase and simply relaxed and spoke the
language. Some even began to dream in it. As might be
expected, listening comprehension skills improved signi-
ficantly. Students often mentioned that they were over-
hearing and understanding conversations which they would
have previously blocked out. And all of them commented
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that, above all, they had greatly strengthened their
confidence in using the language. On the last day, when
asked to fill out course critiques, many felt they would
do a better job if they could write the critique in Rus-
sian or French, since their stream of consciousness was
in the target language.
At this writing, with two-thirds of the Total Im-
mersion experiment completed, the Language Center has the
answers to most of its questions, and the results are
encouraging. We know that students and faculty can take
up to four weeks of concentrated linguistic togetherness
without feeling overly taxed; we know that the logistical
requirements for such programs are not too difficult to
handle; and most important, we know that long-term TI
training produces better language roficienc in a shorter
time. At the end of their month most stu-
dents demonstrated an ease in spec ing the target lan-
guage that students in regular language training usually
do not achieve. Their tested proficiency scores improved
on the average of one full level in French and a half-
level in Russian.
To judge from student and faculty reactions, then, as
well as from measurable improvements in proficiency test
scores, it appears that the long-term Total Immersion
approach has real potential. It is expected that the
Spanish program will confirm that tentative conclusion.
If so -- although a decision has not yet been made --
it is possible that the Language Center will offer such
training every year in selected languages. The plan for
FY75 is to conduct such programs in French (24 February
to 21 March), Spanish (7 April to 2 May),German (26 May
to 20 June).
I
CONFIDENTIAL 7
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ABOUT S-3
OPEN MEMORANDUM
TO A BRANCH CHIEF
1. This memorandum is prompted by the obser-
vation of recent language students that there is
increasing pressure within their divisions for
them to achieve a speaking competence of level "3"
(S-3) at the completion of language training. Since
the Agency's Language Development Program has gen-
erally recognized S-3 as a proficiency goal for
case officers in overseas positions, it is under-
standable that students from the DDO have that goal,
and that their supervisors would encourage them to
achieve it. You should be aware, however, that S-3
is not currently an expectable level of achievement
for most students in a language school on U. S. soil.
2. Training records at the Defense Language
Institute, the Foreign Service Institute and the
Language Learning Center of OTR indicate that only
students with a linguistic advantage can achieve
S-3 in a training situation, i.e., students with
superior language aptitude or who already speak
some second language at a high level. Since S-3
implies a degree of poise in handling the language
-- a confidence factor which has nothing to do
with learning grammar or vocabulary -- it does not
depend on the student's intelligence or motivation.
Nor, oddly enough, does it depend on the amount of
time he spends in training. Proficiency in a lan-
guage increases with time in training only up to a
point. Unless confidence can be developed through
use of the language for survival or communication,
most students make little progress after they reach
S-2 or S-2+, regardless of how many more hours they
spend with a teacher, even an outstanding teacher.
This phenomenon, incidentally, is the basis for our
experimental one-month "Total Immersion" program
at the We are hoping to 25X1A
simulate the conditions under which a breakthrough
into S-3 can consistently be achieved.
3. Unless the experiment radically changes our
expectations of what can be achieved through training,
however, I would like to suggest that all divisions
reconsider the emphasis placed on achievement of
the S-3 level and follow the pattern that the State
Department uses in considering officers for overseas
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assignments. The FSO is required to study the lan-
guage for 20 weeks, during which time he usually
achieves S-2+, and is then expected to achieve S-3
overseas, before he returns from the field. In
the State Department system, promotion is often
dependent on his doing so. S-3 is still the goal,
but the officer is asked to achieve it under con-
ditions which permit it. In the meantime, S-2+
is an acceptable beginning level of competence for
jobs in the field that nominally require S-3.
4. This recommendation is in keeping with the
provision of , which says: "Employees
who are to be assigned to language positions and
who do not have the needed language skills will be
expected to take a prescribed amount of language
training before assignment, with the understanding
that they will achieve the required proficiency
level during the tour of duty." But more important-
ly, it is an approach that reflects the realities
of the problem. I hope you will give it serious
consideration.
The Language Learning Center recently completed
a new German tape series for listening comprehension
at all levels. The series contains 64 selections
including mystery stories (Fall of the House of
Usher), adventure stories (Robinson Crusoe), folk
tales (Till Eulenspiegel), plus political discus-
sions, radio plays, and humorous dialect stories.
Each tape is rated according to its level of diffi-
culty. Descriptive tape catalog and cassettes for
loan are available through the Language Center
Library X3477. Ask for the German "LC Series".
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ANNOUNCEMENTS
The Before-and-After-Hours Language Training
Program (BAHLT) conducted by the Language Center
was discontinued as of 30 June 1974. Off-duty
language courses in French, German, Spanish and
Russian are now offered, however, as part of the
Agency's Off-Campus Program.
II. Defense Language Institute Move
The Defense Language Institute, which main-
tained its Headquarters and an east coast language
school in Anacostia, is in the process of moving
all of its activities to Monterey, California,
where its major training facilities are located.
By 1 July 1975, there will be no Defense Department
language training done in the Washington area
except for military personnel studying at the
Foreign Service Institute.
The Language Learning Center (LLC) now has
as part of its course offerings a 30-hour (half-
days for two weeks) course for secretaries who may
need to handle telephone calls overseas in German.
The course is intensive, and has self-instructional
features; it teaches telephone German only, but
does so extremely well. Dates for the course are
negotiable, and classes can be set up if at least
two students apply. Direct inquiries to
Languages
IV. Three Scandinavian Languages for the Price of One
The Language Center recently ran an experi-
mental course to teach Swedish, Danish and
Norwegian reading in the time normally needed to
teach only one language. The Scandinavian
languages are very similar in structure; therefore,
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the course needed only to teach the conversions
from one language to the next, after a basic
introduction to Swedish. The course is potentially
valuable for desk officers who need to translate
newspapers or documents in Scandinavian languages.
The experimental class demonstrated that such
training is both efficient and effective. The
Slavic/Germanic Department will conduct the course
in the future if at least two students apply.
Contact (x3271).
The Agency has recently acquired a new 25X1C
capability in , a language for which no
25X1A speakers are on record in the computer inventory
of CIA language assets. a 25X10
member of a very small fraternity of
specialists in America, has recently joined the
staff of the Language Center (x3271).
VI. New Headquarters Language Lab
The Language Laboratory maintained at the
Headquarters Building in Room 1D1609 has been
moved temporarily to GB191S. The Laboratory will
become part of the new OTR Media Center which is
scheduled to begin operation in Room GJ68 about
1 January 1975.
VII. New Arabic Training Program
As of 1 November 1974 the Language Learning
Center will resume teaching Arabic as part of its
25X1A regular curriculum. With the addition to the LLC
staff of a native-speaking Arabic
instructor, courses in reading, speaking and
25X1A understandin are now available. Direct inquiries
to , Chief, Near Eastern and Asian
Languages Department (x3271).
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ANGUAGE
ESTING
YMPOSIZJM
One of the primary missions of the Language Learn-
ing Center (LLC) is testing the language proficiency
of Agency personnel. LLC staff members are not only
involved with the administration of proficiency tests,
but also in the research and development of new tests
and testing techniques. On 13 and 14 March, 1974,
members of the LLC staff took leading roles in a sym-
posium on language proficiency testing which was spon-
sored by the United States Interagency Language Round-
table (CIA Language Center, Foreign Service Institute,
Defense Language Institute, NSA Language School, HEW,
the Center for Applied Linguistics, and the Inter-
national Association of Applied Linguistics). Approx-
imately 275 linguists and language teachers from the
U.S. and seven foreign countries attended the sympo-
sium. These included 24 panel members, experts in
the field, who read papers on language testing and
discussed related problems and issues. Members of the
LLC staff were directly involved with the organization
and planning of the symposium, and had two representa-
tives on the panel. In addition, approximately 40
LLC personnel attended the meetings as observers.
The purpose of the symposium was to bring together
language testing specialists from government and aca-
demic institutions to discuss issues of common concern.
The federal government has had vast experience in the
field of language testing, but lacks the resources for
extensive research and experimentation. Universities,
on the other hand, spend a great deal of time doing
research, but often need more practical experience.
Language tests currently used in government programs,
including the oral Interview test used at FSI and the
LLC, were described and discussed by the panel. The
presentations were well received, and useful criticism
was offered by some of the representatives from aca-
demic institutions. The government language community
also profited by learning about new ideas and tech-
niques in language testing presently being experimented
with at universities in the U.S. and abroad.
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This old admonition takes on a very special meaning
in many languages spoken throughout the world. When
one thinks of a language with tones, the first one that
usually comes to mind is Chinese. But Chinese is far
from being the only tone language. Tonal languages are
found throughout much of Southeast Asia, almost all of
sub-Saharan Africa, and among the American Indian
languages of the Western Hemisphere.
What is a tonal language? It has been defined by
the noted linguist, Kenneth Pike, as "a language having
lexically significant, contrastive, but relative pitch
on each syllable." The key phrase is "lexically
signigicant" -- the meaning of the word changes with an
alteration in tone. In other words, a change in tone
is as significant as a change in a consonant or a vowel.
How many tones make a tone language? -- as few as
two in some African languages, or as many as nine in
Cantonese.
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But are tones really important? Some language
students incorrectly feel that it may not really be
necessary to use tones correctly, that people will
understand words because of context. This view is
sometimes held by GIs who served in Vietnam and may
have learned barroom Vietnamese, where there was little
doubt about what was intended. Also, GIs usually spoke
with bartenders, shopkeepers, customs officials, etc.
-- people accustomed to dealing with foreigners. But
there are many times when context is not enough. It
is easy to cite examples in which two or three words,
distinguishable only by tone, may all be meaningful --
though with different meanings -- in a given situation.
Suppose you wanted to rent a villa in Laos and you
asked the owner if it were permissible to keep a maa
in the house. You might create a very uncomfortable
situation if he thinks you mean maa (low tone) which
means "horse" instead of maa (low rising tone) which
means "dog". Or consider triis example from Vietnamese.
The word bon (level tone) means "to flee from", but
bon (rising tone) means "to follow". Thus T8i bon anh
means "I am fleeing from you", while TSi b6n an means
"I am following you" -- a 180 degree i ed'f rence.
Things can become comical as well as confusing.
Even in Japanese, though not usually considered a
tonal language, differing tonal patterns may be lex-
ically significant. Depending on the tonal pattern,
the word hana can mean "flower" or "nose". Which one
did you say you were plucking?
Wrong choice of tone can also be embarrassing or
insulting. In Vietnamese the word khong placed at the
end of the sentence converts a statement into a ques-
tion. But if the same word is pronounced with an
English question intonation pattern (i.e., a rising
tone) it becomes an obscenity.
A change in tone can also indicate a grammatical
change. In Lingala (spoken in Zaire), the word nasala
(high tone on the last two syllables) means "I worked",
but nasala (high tone on the first two syllables)
means "if-I were to work".
There are countless stories of how "tonal error"
has led to confusion in communication. Some stories
are hilarious, others embarrassing. These few examples
should suffice to make the point that tones are impor-
tant features of language. The main thing to remember
is that to change the tone is to change the meaning.
And meaning is what language is all about.
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languages
UIZ
Match the languages in column I with the country of
primary use in column II.
1.
Shan
a.
Sierra Leone
2.
Flemish
b.
Philippines
3.
Tigrinya
c.
Indonesia
4.
Zulu
d.
USSR
5.
Singhalese
e.
New Zealand
6.
More
f.
United States
7.
Lingala
Sri Lanka
8.
Rhade
h .
Burma
9.
Wes-Kos
i.
Ethiopia
10.
Maori
Upper Volta
11.
Croatian
Yugoslavia
12.
Sundanese
1.
South Africa
13.
Cree
M.
Zaire
14.
Ukrainian
n.
Belgium
15.
Visayan
0.
Viet Nam
ANSWERS
'q 'Si `?P 'bT :}
#T
`?o 'Zi
'IT `?a '01 `.a to 8 `m
C 9 tY ?S 11 ?t, :t # `.u `.L{ ?T
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TABLE OF ARTICLES
FROM PAST ISSUES OF
LANGUAGE HIGHLIGHTS
Issue No. 1
August 1971
LANGUAGE INCENTIVE
PROGRAM ........................... About cash awards
for learning a
language
ALL LANGUAGES ARE
EQUALLY DIFFICULT ................. A page of proof
for this statement
TAPES*TAPES*TAPES .................The role of tape
recorded material
in language train-
ing
SELF-STUDY
MATERIALS ......................... Text and tape loan
program of the Lan-
guage Learning Cen-
ter
KNOW YOUR IDIOMS .................. The meaning is more
than the literal sum
of its parts
FOR SPOTTERS
ONLY .............................. Be on the lookout
for potential lan-
guage teachers
Issue No. 2
January 1972
TOTAL IMMERSION ................... Total immersion lan-
guage training out-
side and inside the
Agency
NEED A TRANSLATION? ............... Examples of transla-
tion support provi-
ded 25X1A
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WHEREFORE APTITUDE
TESTS? ............................. What is this thing
called MLAT?
LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY
TESTING ............................ Questions and an-
swers about the
Agency's proficiency
testing program
SPANISH PROGRAMMATIC
INSTRUCTION ........................ Description of pro-
grammed Spanish ma-
terial produced by
the FSI
THE ARRIVAL OF THE
CASSETTE IN LANGUAGE
TRAINING ........................... Pioneered in govern-
ment by OTR's Lan-
guage Learning Cen-
ter
ENGLISH LANGUAGE
TEACHING ABROAD .................... U.S. Government
agencies offer reg-
ular classes in
more than 80 coun-
tries
Issue No. 3
November 1972
GENERAL WALTERS ON
LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT ............... An open memo from
the DDCI on the im-
portance of language
in intelligence work
AVOIDING A LANGUAGE
CRISIS ............................. The Agency's Language
Development Program
COGNATES CAN
KILL YOU ........................... Beware the false
friend:
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THE CHINESE LANGUAGE ...............Some interesting
observations by
an Agency linguist
NEW LAO MATERIALS .................. CIA AND DLI joint
project
INDONESIAN SPELLING
REFORM ............................. Adopted on the 27th
anniversary of Indo-
nesian independence
WHO'S WHO IN
RUSSIA .............................On the system of
Russian names
LANGUAGE AND CULTURE
BROADCASTS IN THE
WASHINGTON AREA .................... A schedule of local
radio programming
Issue No. 4
Spring 1973
LANGUAGE TRAINING AT
COMMERCIAL SCHOOLS ................. Report of a 1972
study
PROGRAMMED INSTRUCTION
AND LANGUAGE TRAINING ..............some history, char-
acteristics, and
examples
THE CIA AND CAI: COMPUTER
ASSISTED INSTRUCTION ............... Future prospects
and a sample inter-
change between stu-
dent and machine
LANGUAGE LEARNING AFTER
30...OR 21...OR 45...OR............ Is there any best
time to learn a
foreign language?
SWAHILI: A MISUNDERSTOOD
LANGUAGE ........................... The who, where, and
how. What it is and
isn't
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 CONFIDENTIAL
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LANGUAGES QUIZ ..................... Test your knowledge.
(or what is a Wolof?)
The Language Learning Center still has a limited
supply of all back issues of Language Highlights. If you
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Approved For Release 2000/04/14: CIA-RDP78-03090A000400010001-5
 Approved For Release 2000/04/14: CIA-RDP78-03090A000400010001-5
WHAT'S YOUR LANGUAGE SPEAKING PROFICIENCY ?
1 Satisfy minimum courtesy requirements, usually with fre-
quent errors and with sharply limited vocabulary. Handle
simple situations of daily life and travel, such as get-
ting temporary lodging, asking and giving simple direc-
tions, ordering a plain meal, and making purchases. Pro-
nounce the language at least well enough to be understood
by a native speaker accustomed to dealing with foreigners.
Understand simple questions and statements, allowing for
slowed speech, repetition, or paraphrase.
2 Satisfy routine social demands, such as formal introduc-
tions and casual conversations about current ever.ts, work,
and autobiographical information. Converse confidently,
if not with facility, with people he deals with in the
course of daily activities. Use basic constructions
accurately, with acceptable weaknesses in more complex
structures and some deficiencies in vocabulary. Pro-
ncunce the language generally intelligibly, though
occasionally producing misunderstood words or phrases.
Get the gist of most conversations on general subjects
which require no specialized knowledge.
3 Speak with sufficient structural accuracy and vocabulary
to participate effectively in most formal and informal
conversations in social, professional, and other daily
situations. Respond in unfamiliar situations with rea-
sonable ease, using a vocabulary broad enough so that
he rarely has to grope for a word. Speak with good con-
trol of grammar, making occasional minor errors which
do not interfere with communication. Pronounce the
language with an accent which, though obviously foreign,
is always understandable. Comprehend most of what is
said at a normal conversational rate of speech.
4 Use the language fluently, idiomatically, and accurately
in all non-technical situations, with extensive and pre-
cise vocabulary, nearly perfect grammar, and an accent
closely approximating that of native-born speakers.
Understand the content of all conversations and formal
presentations within the range of his experience, missing
only those further refinements mentioned in the "5"
category.
5 Use the language in a manner equivalent to that of an ed-
ucated native-born speaker. Speak fluently and accurately
in all practical and social situations, and freely and
idiomatically in his special fields. His speech on all
levels will be fully accepted in all of its features, in-
cluding breadth of vocabulary, idioms, colloquialisms,
and pertinent cultural references. Understand all non-
technical conversations and formal presentations, as well
as technical discourse in his field.
Approved For Release 2000/04/14: CIA-RDP78-03090A000400010001-5