Describes a study which examined the reliability, validity, and scalability of a new technique for constructing, administering, and scoring dictation tests to measure second language proficiency. Findings indicate that such tests can be constructed easily by dividing a coherent text into segments of increasing length. (SED)

This study found that reliable, accurate, time-saving placement information for English as a Second Language students can be derived from a procedure whereby an open-ended cloze is truncated and remodeled into a multiple-choice format. (Author/POP)

Discusses the design and interpretation of instrumental phonetic studies of second language (L2) speech production. The speech of L2 learners is evaluated to determine to what extent it diverges from the differing phonetic norms of L1, which are estimated from the speech of a small number of native speakers. (Author/LMO)

Investigates the relation between foreign language proficiency and multilingual lexicosemantic organization, using two sets of unbalanced Dutch-English-French trilingual adults as participants. Results indicate that foreign language proficiency determines multilingual lexicosemantic organization. (35 references) (Author/CK)

Investigated the acquisition of base-generated topics in Mandarin Chinese by British students learning Chinese. The hypothesis is not confirmed that it would not be difficult for English speakers to acquire the base-generated topic in Chinese because in the acquisition of Chinese, English-speaking learners are exposed to positive evidence of…

Studies learners' second-language (L2) oral proficiency, incorporating an interview, a narration, and a read-aloud. Results show that the nature of the L2 oral construct is not constant. The article concludes that proficiency researchers should use dimensions empirically derived according to the specific elicitation task and audience. (53…