The “Scientific Linguist” Goes to War: The United States A.S.T. Program in Foreign Languages

During World War II there arose in the United States an urgent need for intensive foreign language instruction that emphasized the spoken language. Beginning in April, 1943, the U. S. Army Specialized Training Program (ASTP) established approximately 500 intensive speaking courses in over 30 languages in fifty-five United States universities. After a single year, the program was suddenly abandoned, owing to combat personnel needs. The present study proposes to describe the sources, implementation, content, materials development, and methods of the ASTP in foreign languages. The study analyzes the ASTP Spanish language materials, explores the attempts at assessing the speaking proficiency of trainees of the program, and evaluates the program’s contributions to subsequent pedagogical approaches and assessment in the United States.