Just like buildings, tests are designed and built for specific purposes, people, and uses. However, both buildings and tests grow and change over time as the needs of their users change. Sometimes, they are also both used for purposes other than those intended in the original designs. This paper explores architecture as a metaphor for language…

In the past decade, major attention has been given to the power of tests and to the pivotal roles tests play in societies in shaping the definitions of language, affecting learning and teaching, and maintaining and creating social class. Accordingly, the quality of tests is not judged merely by their psychometric traits but also in relation to…

Discusses coverage of language testing issues in the "Modern Language Journal" over the last 80 years. Suggests that overall the articles devoted to language testing show a valuable concern with the use rather than the form of language tests. (Author/VWL)

Discusses questions related to GED and nonnative English speakers. Specifically, should the test be given at all?; how do others regard it?; how does Spanish test stack up to English equivalent?; and what are advantages and disadvantages once the test is over? Concludes that because demand for the Spanish GED has increased, the GED office has…

Proposes a set of priorities for using language testing as an instrumental factor in upgrading second-language learning. These priorities are proposed as an outgrowth of the conviction that language tests can and should play an important role in the improvement of foreign-language teaching and learning. (JL)

Reviews developments in language testing research and practice over the last 20 years, and suggests future directions in the areas of professionalizing the field and validation research. Argues that concerns for ethical conduct must be grounded in valid test use, so that professionalization and validation research are inseparable. (Author/VWL)

The Victorian (Australia) assessment approach of developing national subject profiles has potential for language assessment. Within each language area, levels of development would be identified and defined by observable language behavior, which could then be tested by a variety of test types. Assessment would be done by teachers in schools using…

It is argued that the close relationship between learning and testing is best exemplified in achievement tests, which are designed both to reinforce learning and to provide feedback about the effectiveness of teaching. Of the four types of achievement tests (placement, formative, diagnostic, and summative), two (formative and diagnostic) are…

Identifies some underlying assumptions about language, testing and its use, and second language acquisition (SLA) for those current on the issue of oral proficiency assessment. Suggests that even with its limitations, the assessment procedure can become a source of data for future SLA research. (Author/LMO)

Discusses problems with the ACTFL/ETS Oral Proficiency Guidelines and examines inconsistencies relating to three assumptions of oral proficiency (OPT)--hours of study, accuracy/interest, and errors. Further, it is argued that the main problems with OPT arise from an analytic approach and the native speaker yardstick. (SED)

Explores test usefulness in alternative assessment and discusses self-assessment, portfolios and diaries, video and peer observations, and peer assessment. The concept of washback (how the test affects processes of learning and instruction) and concerns about alternative assessment are also addressed. Considerations for implementing alternative…

The oral proficiency scale of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Language (ACTFL) and the Educational Testing Service is reviewed as an instrument for measuring the levels of language proficiency for college undergraduates and high school students. The scale is a modification of the U.S. Government's Foreign Service Institute Scale,…

A discussion of the use of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) Proficiency Guidelines in teaching and testing less commonly taught languages (LCTL) describes a two-year project on that topic and looks at specific problems with four languages or language groups. The project was to familiarize LCTL teachers with the…

Consisting of four papers, this study examines university entrance examinations in France, Great Britain, and West Germany and compares them to similar tests in the United States on the basis of three subjects: world history, language study, and biology. The first paper, "The Relationship of the Examinations to the Secondary School Age…