This study introduces the first Arabic Vocabulary Levels Test (Arabic-VLT), created for foreign learners of Arabic. We present compelling evidence to substantiate its validity and reliability. The Arabic-VLT was developed according to five levels, beginning with the most frequently used words (Level 1) to the least frequently used ones (Level 5),…

Oral language skills are important to consider in school psychology practice, as they are directly tied to many areas of academic functioning. For example, research has demonstrated that oral language skills in early elementary school predict reading comprehension in later grades (Kendeou, van den Broek, White, & Lynch, 2009). With a…

This technical assistance paper provides policy and guidance to individuals with test administration responsibilities in adult education programs. Rule 6A-6.014, Florida Administrative Code (F.A.C.), titled, General Requirements for Adult General Education Programs, requires all adult education programs to report all student measurable educational…

Common problems in using and scoring the Developmental Sentence Scoring procedure to quantify young children's grammatic structure expressive language are reviewed. Scoring examples are provided to help clinicians learn the DDS procedure. (Author/CL)

Prochievement tests, hybrids of proficiency and achievement tests, assess students' linguistic and communicative competence and provide a means for formative evaluation of student progress. Assessing Spanish listening comprehension/speaking proficiency, creating listening/oral proficiency test formats, and scoring are described. Guidelines for…

Based on the questions of second language teachers concerning classroom practice, generated by mail survey in 1983, research on aspects of second language teaching and learning was reviewed and is summarized here. In each case, a question or questions are posed and a brief discussion follows, in layman's language and based on relevant research,…

A study investigated the utility of a measure for assessing the writing apprehension of Japanese students of English as a second language. The Daly-Miller questionnaire, designed to measure writing apprehension, was translated into Japanese and administered to 687 first- and second-year students of English at a Japanese junior college. Results…

Literature relating summarization skills to reading improvement and to test score gains is reviewed, and two new studies are reported. One study compared gain on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) of two groups of students, one (n=7 students) receiving instruction in summarizing skills and the other (n=14) receiving TOEFL…

Undergraduate and graduate admissions requirements for foreign students at more than 2,000 U.S. colleges and universities are detailed in this handbook. Based on responses to questionnaires sent to all U.S. higher education institutions, the content emphasizes minimum scores required on the Test of English as a Foreign Language, possible…

To streamline the process of collecting spontaneous language samples, a modified format of the "Multilevel Informal Language Inventory" was administered to 150 public school children, aged four-six. Administration, scoring, and analysis required approximately 35 minutes per child. Scores obtained were used to compute normative data on a…

A study evaluated the ability of older adults to accurately perceive and retain Spanish in their short-term memory. Specifically, the study investigated differences in native language (English) auditory perception, short-term native language auditory memory capacity, monolingual age differences in auditory perception ability in an unknown…

Educational assessment and, more broadly, educational research in the United States have entered into an era characterized by a dramatic increase in the prevalence and importance of test score use in accountability systems. This volume covers a selection of contemporary issues about testing science and practice that impact the nation's public…

A study investigated the effectiveness of full dyadic writing as a technique for teaching writing to students of English as a Second Language (ESL). Subjects were 31 college students of diverse cultural backgrounds enrolled in ESL sections of freshman English. Each chose a partner with a different native language with whom to write two essays, the…

This article reviews the concept and derivation of age-equivalent scores as evidence for speech-language deficits. It presents arguments against the use of age-equivalent scores in case management decisions and recommends that, when used, a report include a clear explanation of their true meaning and other summaries of test performance. (Author/DB)

During the 1979-1980 school year, 23 Old Order Amish pupils in the Pleasant Hill School near Bloomfield, Iowa, took the Iowa Test of Basic Skills. On the language arts subtest, five of six third grade students ranked above 50% in capitalization, four ranked above 50% in spelling and punctuation, and three ranked above 50% in usage. Four third…