There's more specialization and a narrower purpose in two albums recently issued by Dover Publications. Dover ``publishes'' what the company calls ``Listen and Learn'' productions designed to teach foreign languages. Previous presentations have been on French, Spanish, Russian, Italian, German and Japanese.

But the firm has recognized the tight dollar and the tourist's desire to visit the ``smaller, less traveled and relatively inexpensive countries,'' and is now prepared to teach modern Greek and Portuguese through recordings. The respective vocabularies ``essential for travel'' are available in separate albums.

Thanks to Spoken Arts Records, history buffs may hear Lincoln's ``most memorable speeches and letters'' in a two disc set, interpreted by Lincoln authority and lecturer Roy P. Basler. As a contemporary bonus, the set includes Carl Sandburg's address at a joint session of Congress, delivered on Lincoln's birthday two years ago.

For those who ``like poetry but never get around to reading it,'' the Library of Congress makes it possible for poets to be heard reading their own work. The program was instituted in 1940, and releases are available only from the Recording Laboratory of the Library of Congress, Washington 25, D. C. A catalogue is available on request.

Newest on the list are John Ciardi, W. D. Snodgrass, I. A. Richards, Oscar Williams, Robert Hillyer, John Hall Wheelock, Stephen Vincent Benet, Edwin Muir, John Peal Bishop and Maxwell Bodenheim. Two poets are paired on each record, in the order given above.