The grades K-2 Florida Center for Reading Research (FCRR) Reading Assessment (FRA) consists of computer-adaptive alphabetic and oral language screening tasks that provide a Probability of Literacy Success (PLS) linked to grade-level performance (i.e., the 40th percentile) on the word reading (in kindergarten) or reading comprehension (in grades…

As part of its proposal to the U.S. Department of Education, the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) committed to developing Kindergarten through Grade 2 Model Content Frameworks for English language arts (ELA)/literacy (K-2 Model Content Frameworks) to serve as a bridge between the Common Core State Standards…

The TOEIC (Test of English for International Communication) test is an English-language proficiency test for people whose native language is not English. It measures the everyday English skills of people working in an international environment. The scores indicate how well people can communicate in English with others in business, commerce, and…

This paper is part of an ongoing attempt to establish listening competencies for secondary school graduates. The paper relates the specific competencies to the International Literacy Association's definition of listening (the process of receiving, constructing meaning from, and responding to spoken language and/or nonverbals) and the established…

A variety of informal language development assessment tools is presented for use with children with developmental disabilities. This book is written as a manual for clinicians and researchers for evaluating children who cannot meet the cognitive, perceptual, or motor requirements of standardized tests and to help evaluate aspects of language not…

This guide, intended to assist school districts as they implement classroom activities and assessment procedures related to student learning objectives (for all grades) in the language arts areas of speaking and listening, reflects what students should know and be able to do in language arts as a consequence of their schooling. The guide is in…

Oral paraphrase is presented as an informal and versatile strategy for assessing and enhancing listening comprehension in mainstreamed students with language/learning disabilities. Approaches to assessing the listening comprehension demands of individual classrooms and using various dimensions of paraphrasing to enhance language comprehension and…

The article examines children's requests for clarification (RQCLs) in sections on the development of RQCL behaviors in normally developing children, the use of RQCL behaviors by language-impaired children, evaluation of language-impaired children's use of RQCL behaviors, and facilitation of language impaired children's use of and response to…

Discusses origins of desire for authenticity in language teaching, analyzes the term, and describes some materials designed to fit in with a more rigorous view of what constitutes authenticity. Purpose is to create learning activities that demand an authentic response from foreign language students. (Author/BK)

Discusses the formation of the International Listening Association to address concerns related to listening. The importance of teaching students effective listening skills is also outlined. New technology has increased the amount of listening in which students are engaged. Includes references. (MD)

Describes part of in-service program for Dutch teachers in which they interview native English speakers to collect material to be used in the classroom. Teachers were able to use their non-native status to elicit as much or as little language as they wanted and to build clarification devices into the interviews. (BK)

Describes use of radio segments as a method for teaching French in Spain in order to develop listening comprehension while exposing students to global perspectives through use of authentic pieces. (BK)

Describes use of Authentic French Radio (FRA) as a means of teaching French to beginner, intermediate and advanced French language students. Suggests that this exercise improves listening comprehension, while deepening the student's knowledge of France and French. (BK)

Discusses selected aspects of understanding spoken foreign language within the parameters of a suggested model of listening comprehension. Suggests some educational strategies in accordance with the proposed model and indicates some of the ways in which computer-assisted learning might help to develop listening comprehension. (EKN)

Listening is the language skill humans use most, and teaching children to listen better is an essential and long overdue task. Achieving this task demands three things from the adults who work with children: an understanding of the listening process, the implementation of research-based strategies for improving children's listening, and an…