Abstract Many countries need to teach English for scientific and commercial reasons. However, in many cases, these countries face shortages of trained English teachers. This paper describes a project to develop a replicable package of materials which might provide effective language instruction in such circumstances. It is assumed for theoretical reasons that the most effective way to teach a foreign language is by providing a substantial base of receptive competence (listening and reading) before attempting to teach productive skills. Thus the materials are comprehension-based and concentrate on teaching listening and reading. The materials consist of student workbooks, a cassette tape for each lesson, a teacher's manual with a complete tapescript of each lesson, and a set of periodic achievement tests. The materials use an “interactive teacher and tape” technique, in which the narrator on the tape gives students a variety of tasks to do in their workbooks, and the tape also has the teacher demonstrating tasks and correct responses to the students. Thus the teacher is not required to talk; the aural component is carried out by the taped narrator. The tape also controls the presentation and pace of the lesson. Use of the tape is to provide help and direction for potentially untrained and non-fluent teachers. Results indicate that the materials are superior to the traditional teacher and textbook approach both in terms of student gains in proficiency and in attitudes towards the materials. Results also indicate that the combination of listening and reading is superior to reading only, and that the materials taught via the tape are superior to the same materials taught by a fluent teacher. These results indicate that it is possible to teach comprehension skills effectively in large classes with replicable, packaged materials. The success of the taped materials indicates that it is theoretically possible to use such an approach with relatively untrained, non-fluent teachers.