THE AUTHOR BASES HIS APPROACH TO TEACHING LANGUAGES ON THE PRINCIPLE THAT MOST PEOPLE LEARN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE BETTER WHEN IT IS PRESENTED AS ONE ASPECT OF COMMUNICATION, RATHER THAN AS AN ABSTRACT SYSTEM. THE AUTHOR SUGGESTS THAT THIS "MODULAR PRINCIPLE," WHICH HE HAS FOLLOWED IN FOUR FOREIGN SERVICE INSTITUTE BEGINNING SWAHILI COURSES, MAY ALSO BE APPLIED TO TEACHING ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE. IN PLACE OF A COMPREHENSIVE REFERENCE GRAMMAR OF THE LANGUAGE, A SYNOPSIS OF THE BASIC STRUCTURES AND POINTS CONTAINED WITHIN THE TEXTS TO BE LEARNED IS PRESENTED. THESE POINTS ARE DRILLED IN PATTERN PRACTICES COORDINATED WITH TAPE RECORDINGS. THE SHORT, GRADED TEXTS, WHICH TOGETHER WITH THE SYNOPSIS FORM A "MODULE," ARE TAKEN FROM AN AREA OF SPECIAL INTEREST TO THE LEARNERS--AN AREA OF "REAL LIVE COMMUNICATION AMONG NATIVE SPEAKERS." THE STUDENT THUS LEARNS TO MASTER THE SOUNDS AND STRUCTURAL PATTERNS WITHIN A "LIMITED, RELEVANT VOCABULARY" AND MAY, AT THE COMPLETION OF ONE COURSE OR "MODULE," GO ON TO ANOTHER COURSE. THE AUTHOR STRESSES THAT LANGUAGE MUST BE TAUGHT AS PATTERNS IN CONNECTED DISCOURSE, WITH SYSTEMATICALLY ORGANIZED DRILL MATERIALS. THIS PAPER WAS PRESENTED AT THE TESOL CONVENTION, APRIL 1967, AND IS PUBLISHED IN THE "TESOL QUARTERLY," VOLUME 1, NUMBER 3, SEPTEMBER 1967, INSTITUTE OF LANGUAGES AND LINGUISTICS, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY, WASHINGTON, D.C. 20007. (AMM)