Anthony Bruton comments on Brown and Hudson's article "The Alternatives in Language Assessment," (v32 n4 Win 1998). Raises questions about some of their definitions and categories and suggests additional items that need to be considered by test takers. Brown and Hudson reply with clarifications of terms and definition of the scope of their paper.…

Reviews research on appropriate methodologies to use in studying native or second language acquisition and points out that both quantitative and qualitative research methods are used in different ways of study in the field. (CB)

Provides a detailed evaluation of the oral proficiency interview and its underlying assumptions of validity and value. The similarities and differences between interviews and conversations are examined, and some of the major problems of proficiency interviewing are illustrated and discussed. (39 references) (Author/VWL)

Revised version of a paper presented at the TESOL Convention, March 1971, New Orleans, Louisiana. (VM)

Ten objective measures of writing proficiency were used to evaluate advanced ESL students' compositions. Only those objective measures taking the absence of errors into account discriminated among holistic evaluations of the compositions by experienced ESL teachers. (PMJ)

Discusses the types of language tests that language teachers can use in their classrooms for their specific purposes. Language assessments are classified into three categories: selected-response assessments; constructed-response assessments; and personal-response assessments. A definition is provided for each assessment type, and advantages and…

Describes the development of a collaborative evaluation model and its application to a curricular innovation project within a secondary school system in Hong Kong. Focuses on the limits of collaboration in long-term evaluation projects with multiple stakeholders. (Author/VWL)

Clarifies and defines quantitative research as it is applied to the study of language acquisition. Trends in the use of quantitative and nonquantitative methods in applied linguistics are reported, and suggestions are made concerning useful paradigms and procedures for further research in language acquisition. (Author/CB)

Manuscript supported, in part, by grants from the Canada Council and the Defense Research Board of Canada to Mr. Tucker. More complete version was prepared by Miss Capco as A Study of the Verbal Behavior of Bilingual Children Using a Word Association Technique", M.A. thesis, Philippine Normal College, Manila, 1969. (VM)

Describes the central issues confronting Teaching English as a Second or Other Language (TESOL) in China today. Examines overall trends and identifies challenges. Particular emphasis is on teacher education; instructional materials, and assessment. (Author/VWL)

Offers a model which can be used to describe any given second language teaching method, as well as analyze different methods for their internal adequacy, similarities, and differences. (EKN)