John B. Means

John B. Means, Ph.D, (1938-2005) served several national professional associations and educational organizations from 1977 to 2002 as a principal exponent of the use of multi-level self-instructional foreign language programs in academic settings, principally (though not exclusively) at the college/university level. Means's academic career evolved from an initial focus on Portuguese language and Luso-Brazilian studies to the fostering of college-level instruction in non-Western languages. Accordingly, by the late-1970s Means was a nationally recognized proponent of the use of non-traditional instructional formats for the study of uncommonly-taught languages within a structured educational environment.

Means was a professor in the College of Liberal Arts (formerly Arts and Sciences) at Temple University between 1968 and 2003, joining the foreign language faculty at that university on completion of doctoral studies in language/linguistics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Initially focusing on the development of Portuguese language and Brazilian-studies programs at the University of Illinois and Temple University, in the 1970s Means's professional interests broadened to include the development of academic methodologies for the teaching of low-enrollment foreign languages using a pedagogical framework appropriate for college/university credit-bearing undergraduate instruction.

Means established Temple University's Center for Critical Languages in 1975 and, in 1977, assumed executive directorship of the "National Association of Self-Instructional Language Programs" ( [http://clp.arizona.edu/nasilp/sample.htm] NASILP), then a newly developing consortium of colleges/universities providing courses in various less-commonly taught languages through an auto-didactic, self-directed learning approach to individualized instruction. Under Means's leadership, the association expanded during the 1980s and '90s from a largely regional into a fully national association of 125 institutions with self-accessed academic programs in, collectively, forty-three languages -- including most modern languages offered in North American secondary and higher educational institutions except Spanish, French, and German. During this period, the association (NASILP) received financial support from the United States Department of Education and private foundations (e.g., Japan Foundation) for the development of academic initiatives (primarily for curriculum design and materials development) administered by Means at Temple University. In 1997, after twenty years under Means's directorship, the NASILP secretariat was transferred to the University of Arizona at Tucson, and is currently administered by Prof. Alexander Dunkel.

Means remained active in the field of foreign-language higher education through the 1980s and '90s, through his seminal work at NASILP and other professional organizations advancing the teaching and learning of languages, especially non-Western languages not commonly found in secondary or higher education curricula. Means was a founding officer of the "National Council of Organizations of Less Commonly Taught Languages" (NCOLCTL) in 1989, initially underwritten by a series of grants from the Ford Foundation, and served as the Council's exec. Secretary-Treasurer for twelve years (1989-2001). Means also served on the "Joint National Committee for Languages" (JNCL), a professional organization representing most national, regional and state foreign language organizations; and the "National Council of Languages and International Studies", advancing public and governmental support for foreign language instruction.

Since 2003, Means was Professor Emeritus of Temple University and Executive Director Emeritus of the "National Association of Self-Instructional Language Programs". His biography is included in current editions of Who's Who in America and other reference works published by Marquis Who's Who.

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