European language-teaching theory and practice in retrospect covering the period from 1920 to 1970 are noted to be an amalgam of underlying disciplines, teaching methodologies, and technical aids. Chronologically presented, the "orthodoxy" of 1920-40 charts general similarities in the state of the art prior to a 10-year period of major upheaval and change commencing with the Second World War. The impact of technology and linguistics led to the growth of objectives of language instruction in Europe independent of American advances. New organizations from 1960 onward, particularly governmental and professional associations, are dealt with in the final chapter. The trends augur a future in which language is to be more vital to the citizen's education, more practical in nature, and more linguistic in its pedagogical foundations. A bibliography includes a listing of journals, books, and articles in books. (RL)