The construction of tests of oral competence in a foreign language requires consideration of several factors. The face validity of the test, or the degree to which students feel they are performing a real communicative act, is illustrated with a number of model testing situations. Content validity, or the ability of a test to measure what has been…

The articles in this volume are based on a survey of language learners carried out at five Swiss universities. The surveys (done through interviews and questionnaires) concern the ways that students encounter their second language (French) outside the classroom, and which of those practices are the most effective in improving their French. The…

The recent development of the communicative approach to foreign language instruction has been accompanied by many methodological applications, most of which have revolved around an authentic use of discourse. This evolution in language instruction presents some problems, especially when communicative competence is interpreted too narrowly. Some…

This French phrasebook is intended as a guide to pronunciation and useful words and phrases. All entries are given first in English, followed by the French word in simplified English phonetic spelling, with the French spelling in parentheses. The "Useful Words and Phrases," dealing with subjects such as directions, greetings, numbers, and…

This Turkish phrasebook is intended as a guide to pronunciation and useful words and phrases. All entries are given first in English, followed by the Turkish word in simplified English phonetic spelling, with the Turkish spelling in parentheses. The "Useful Words and Phrases," dealing with subjects such as directions, greetings, numbers and…

This Italian phrasebook is intended as a guide to pronunciation and useful words and phrases. All entries are given first in English, followed by the Italian word in simplified English phonetic spelling, with the Italian spelling in parentheses. The "Useful Words and Phrases," dealing with subjects such as directions, greetings, numbers, and…

This Russian language guide is of assistance in carrying on simple conversations in Russian and is used in conjunction with records. Russian ranks after Chinese and English as the third most widespread language in the world. All the words and phrases are written in a simplified spelling which is read like English. Useful words and phrases include…

This Malay language guide is of assistance in carrying on simple conversations in Malay and is used in conjunction with records. Malay is spoken by people in Malaya, Sumatra, Java, and Borneo and is widely used as a trade language throughout the Netherlands East Indies. The variety of Malay used in the guide (called Low, Bazaar, or Market Malay)…

This study explores the role of the language learning situation by comparing the speech of children in an immersion program, children learning a second language in a natural setting, and native French children. Three groups of children participated in the study: (1) 39 children (Grades K, 1, 3, 5) in a French immersion program in the U.S.; (2) 13…

This collection of articles includes the following: "Second Language Acquisition Research and Applied Linguistics" (Teresa Pica); "'Communicative Lingerings': An Exploratory Study of the Experience of 'Foreign' Communicative Features in the Interactions of American Expatriates after Reentry" (Laura Sicola); "Acquiring…

This volume on language issues within Australia contains five research papers: "Patterns of Inter-Cultural Communication in Melbourne Factories: Some Research in Progress" (Michael Clyne); "Developing Proficiency Scales for Communicative Assessment" (D. E. Ingram, Elaine Wylie); "Rapid Profile: A Second Language Screening…

The following articles on second language teaching techniques, English as a second language, and cross cultural communication are included: (1) "'Honne' and 'Tatemae': Tools for Developing Communicative Competence in a Second Language," by Gregory J. Thompson; (2) "Using Video-Taped Movies with Advanced ESOL Students," by…

This collection of articles deals with various aspects of the role of the language laboratory in language teaching, concentrating on laboratory teaching methods and materials. Topics range from evaluation of existing materials to the planning of courses and self-instruction systems, and include suggestions for the building up of a sound-library…

This collection of articles on second language learning in a multilingual environment includes: "Franzosisch-Deutsch: Zweisprachiges Lernen au der Sekundarstufe 1" (French-German: Learning Two Languages at Secondary School, Level 1) (Otto Stern, Brigit Eriksson, Christine Le Pape, Hans Reutener, Cecilia Serra Oesch); "Das Projekt…

This compilation of four issues of the Japan Association of Language Teachers Journal (JALT) covers the years 1982-1984. The four issues contain a total of 21 articles, as follows: "Communicative Needs in Foreign Language Learning" (Jack C. Richards); "Language Proficiency Interview Testing" (David J. Keitges);…