The Article Index
The "Article Index" is a listing of all articles, editorials,
and review essays published during the first eighty years of the MLJ.
Each entry in the "Article Index" is cross-referenced up to
five times by topic. A particular entry's cross-listings appear immediately
after the entry itself. In each instance all terms are equally searchable.
Therefore, entry number two of the "Article Index" is by O.L.
Abbott and concerns an experimental course on the speaking of Spanish;
the third entry, by Marcelle Abell, addresses professional issues and
a program description concerning the teaching of Russian. The purpose
of the cross-references is NOT to index all aspects of an article, but
to categorize it so as to facilitate scholarly access. Articles are considered
to be those items published separately in the MLJ, not as part
of "Notes and News." Since some enrollment figures, program
descriptions, and obituaries were, in fact, published in "Notes and
News," and still some others were published separately in the pages
of the MLJ, the wise researcher will investigate "Notes and
News" during the years of his/her interest. The same holds true of
Association news for individuals researching the history of the profession.
We distinguish between student [learning] activities and other activities,
such as student clubs and organizations. We have avoided abbreviations
excepting only the most commonly known to foreign language teachers (AATF,
MLA, ACTFL, etc.).
We have excluded "Notes and News," "Personalia," and
"Books Received." We do include, however, those items which
appear with their own banner (headline) without a category description.
See, for example: 19 (1935): 380-82, entitled "Annual Meeting of
the Federation." Had that title been printed under the general rubric
"Minutes," as a regular feature, it would have been excluded
here. Also excluded is all original poetry; early volumes of the MLJ
regularly published poems written by foreign language teachers.
We classify entries wherever possible first by language and then by other
appropriate designations. We do not classify by geographical area; therefore,
items pertaining to Spanish as it is spoken in South America, Central
America, and Europe all appear under "Spanish." That is, we
use global designators. Obituaries, published separately, are indexed.
Unsigned obituaries are attributed ipso facto to the then Editor
of the MLJ.
The Review Index
This section has been compiled alphabetically by language or language
group (topic). Entries are number consecutively from one section or language
group to the next. Each entry is arranged according to the same basic
alphabetical principle as the rest of the Index. For example: 3330
Popper, Evelyn. Les Images et les Mots (1968). 53 (1969): 214 [Walter,
Marian]. Entry 3330 concerns a book authored by Evelyn Popper, the title
of which follows name. The book was published in 1968, and was subsequently
reviewed in volume 53 of the MLJ, published in 1969 on page 214.
The review was written by Marian Walter. In many instances, the date of
a book's publication is not given in the banner of the review. Such entries
are marked ND in the index.
Books, software, and AV materials are all listed by the language which
is examined in the review; for example, a book written in French about
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe appears under German. Due to the structure
of earlier MLJ staffs, numerous books received more than one review--e.g.,
Kurt Bergel's book on Albert Schweitzer was assigned by two different
review editors two years apart. We use no further subdivisions by textbook,
level, or type of book (textbook, trade book, etc.). Review essays appear
in the "Article Index" and are not repeated in reviews. To save
space, the designation for Editor[s] of books has been dropped except
in certain instances where their absence would obscure function. Books
in ESL, EFL, TESOL, and English literature appear under the rubric "English."
Greek is subdivided into Classical and Modern and have combined language
acquisition, linguistics, and teacher education under the rubric "Theory
and Practice" as is now the practice in the MLJ review section
itself. Multilanguage anthologies are classified under what the reviewer
identifies as the dominant language of the book.
Acknowledgements
Only in the rarest of instances can scholars' work be accomplished without
the generosity and assistance of others. In our own case the friendship
and professionalism of numerous people have made the completion of this
project possible. At Case Western Reserve University, we are indebted
to John E. Bassett, former Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, for
his strong encouragement, spirit of cooperation, and financial support;
to Ray K. Neff, Vice President for Information Services, for his most
sympathetic response to our request for technical help. Martha C. Lannoch's
organizational skills kept the project on schedule. Miguel Zubizarreta
deserves our thanks for saving some data for us from deteriorating diskettes.
We extend to John E. Molnar, Director of User Services in the Office of
the CWRU Vice President for Information Services, our very special gratitude
for technical support, collegial assistance, and guidance that always
extended far beyond the original request for help. In the office of the
editor of The Modern Language Journal we thank J. M. Samuels for
integrating the personal names found in the "Review Index" into
the "Index of Names." James Schwarton and Beverly Vaughn earned
our respect and gratitude for their professionalism and quick responses
to queries. We thank the current MLJ Editor, Sally Sieloff Magnan,
both for her moral support and for negotiating the final forms of publication
for the project. We are especially grateful to Kathleen Hicks and Lisa
McLaughlin of Blackwell Publishers for their uncanny insights into the
vagaries and pitfalls of this project and for always having a variety
of means to help combat them. Their support was essential. Credit for
the completion must be shared by all of these colleagues. Errors and lesser
infelicities are, of course, entirely our own.
Suzanne S. Moore. David P. Benseler.
