DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATION OF A TACTICAL MANDARIN CHINESE LANGUAGE COURSE.
Abstract
To meet the need for a short, self-instructional tactical language course in a Far Eastern tonal type language of potential military significance, a course in Mandarin Chinese was developed, by adapting the methods described in Subtask CONTACT II with reference to a European type language (Russian). The purpose of the course was to enable combat soldiers to acquire perishable tactical information from newly captured POWs. The course was programed in the format of the Russian model with a major change in the addition of tone-discrimination and tone-production lessons. Six male students, high school seniors and graduates with varied language-learning aptitudes, took the course and completed it in 61 to 84 hours. Their final test scores, indicating ability to speak and understand all the assigned Chinese vocabulary, ranged from 55% to 98% correct. In a simulated questioning test, the mean percentage of correctly translated answers was 86%. Although low language-learning aptitude was associated with lower scores, the overall achievement appeared to be satisfactory. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 01, 1965
- Accession Number
- AD0629444
Entities
People
- Catherine Garvey
- Eugene H. Rocklyn