In 1964, the Stanford linguist Robert Politzer made a surprising claim in the pages of the Modern Language Journal. American linguists were then attaining unprecedented influence in the field of foreign-language teaching, promising dramatically improved results if teachers adhered to their methods and shaping classroom practices and materials from primary to postsecondary contexts. Politzer concluded that the reason for linguists’ influence was not, however, due to the merit of their ideas alone. “[Linguistic] theory by itself is perhaps not sufficient to shape pedagogical procedure,” he wrote. “[Above] all, our general attitude toward international communication [is] decisive.”1¹

中文翻译：

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1941年至1970年，美国对外关系中的语言培训武器化*

1964年，斯坦福大学的语言学家罗伯特·波利策在《现代语言杂志》上发表了令人惊讶的声明。那时，美国语言学家在外语教学领域获得了空前的影响力，他们承诺，如果教师坚持自己的方法，并在从小学到中学的语境中塑造课堂实践和教材，那将大大改善学习成果。Politzer的结论是，语言学家之所以会产生影响，并不是因为他们的想法具有优点。他写道：“语言理论本身可能不足以塑造教学过程。” “ [首先]，我们对国际交流的一般态度是决定性的。” 1 ¹