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…

Five papers in diverse areas of linguistics in education are presented. "Second Language Learning through Interaction: Multiple Perspectives" (Teresa Pica) looks at the variety of theoretical approaches to interaction in second language learning, and how an interactionist perspective lends weight to a number of theories.…