To get more information about language lab, click here Language Laboratories are becoming more and more valued in educational institutions. Since the functions and possibilities they offer are much higher than the ones in the traditional teaching-learning system. History.... It was Edison's invention of the tin foil phonograph in 1877 that made the first language laboratories possible. It was used for a foreign language class for the first time in 1891. Students listened to records, recorded their own voices speaking the languages, and sent their recordings back to the company for evaluation. Between 1900 and 1950, equipment became more sophisticated, with the invention and development of tape recorders and television, and schools began establishing language laboratories. Language laboratories were given impetus by funds provided when the National Defense Education Act was passed in 1958. Various language laboratory programs and studies done on ...