The manual is designed as a reference on second language teaching and curriculum development for Peace Corps language trainers and language training coordinators. The first section, on language learning theory, introduces competency-based curriculum, describes the natural approach to language learning (the approach used throughout the manual), explains the "monitor model" of language learning, and describes various learning strategies, with examples of classroom activities suitable for each. Four language-learning skills and activities illustrating them are also presented. The section concludes with a discussion of language learning by the older adult, which offers some guidelines for successfully training this population. The second section summarizes some historical and contemporary language training methods, with sample lessons illustrating how parts of the methods can be incorporated into competency-based instruction. Section three explores the competency-based curriculum in some depth, including needs assessment, curriculum design, and individual lesson planning. This section also contains classroom management techniques and a discussion of competency-based evaluation and the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) oral interview. The manual concludes with a list of ways classroom activities can be organized, an index to charts and checklists included in the manual, a glossary, additional references, and publishers' addresses. (MSE)