Since standardized tests of English foreign language seem to lack external validity, a new test, the New Cloze Test (NCT), was developed and validated as a placement test for foreign students. Details of the test design, including paragraph preparation, word deletion, and recommended methods for administration and scoring are discussed. Subjects…

This paper discusses the role of intelligence in language comprehension. In the study reported, an attempt is made to determine how much of the variability in English reading scores of non-native speakers of English can be predicted on the basis of intelligence alone. In the study, three measures of reading comprehension are used: a traditional…

The technology of transforming sentences from prose instruction into test questions was examined by comparing two methods of selecting sentences (keyword vs. rare singleton), two types of question words (nouns vs. adjectives), and two foil construction methods (writer's choice vs. algorithmic). Four item writers created items using each…

In 1978 the New York State Board of Regents initiated action to establish statewide high school graduation standards for reading comprehension. The process began by measuring the readability levels of materials used in core courses and materials that adults normally read (newspapers, news magazines, and feature magazines). To do this,…

This is the first of three readers in a series designed to impart survival language skills to students of English as a second language. Four units cover the following topics: (1) telling time; (2) learning about one's community, by way of the example of the imaginary island of Mahimahi; (3) reading menus and newspaper advertisements; and (4)…

This is the first of four volumes devoted to reading instruction, in a series of materials for teaching English as a second language to adult nursing aide students. The two units included deal principally with survival skills. The first unit is an introduction to Mahimahi Island, the imaginary quasi-Hawaiian locale used throughout the series. The…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 27 titles deal with a variety of topics, including the following: (1) electrodermal responses and informal reading criteria; (2) a comparison of standardized reading test scores, informal reading inventory results, and miscue…

The communication strategies of eight Spanish-speaking children enrolled in an elementary English as a second language (ESL) program in Austin, Texas were observed and analyzed. Strategies were found to be divisible into three categories: kinesic, paralinguistic, and linguistic. The linguistic strategies resulted in errors, but these are deemed…

This study investigates the feasibility of using cloze procedure test items (in which a student supplies a word, letter, or phrase to fill a gap in a continuous text) for the written College Board foreign language achievement tests. An introduction which defines the problem, traces its history, and presents the overall design of the study is…

The concurrent validity of the third grade, New York State Pupil Evaluation Reading Program (PEP) reading test was examined with the following standardized tests: the Durrell Silent Reading Test, the Gilmore Oral Reading Test, the Wide Range Achievement Test (WRAT), the Verbal IQ of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC), and the…

The report proposes to complete the validation and refinement of a new domain referenced testing technology designed to assess literal comprehension ability in students in grades 1-12. The domain referenced measures in this technology, along with other more traditional measures of reading comprehension, literal and non-literal, are subsequently…

Assesses the validity of Language Assessment Scales (LAS) and a cloze test in measuring language proficiency. The LAS and two written cloze passages were administered to 28 Mexican-American third graders enrolled in bilingual classes. The cloze test correlated significantly only with the California Test of Basic Skills. (Author/LMO)

Presents the results of three experiments investigating the time course of grammaticality judgement. The high correlations among the experiments suggest that the incremental tasks assigned were tapping into the same decision-making process as is found online. The article discusses the findings' implications for the error types that do and do not…

Describes the evolution of one Spanish second-language teacher's use of the World Wide Web as a source for language exercises, particularly for grammar learning, beginning in 1995. Topics discussed include teacher development of exercises from cultural or other material; effective use of graphics and screen layout; and specific activities,…

This study investigated the appropriateness of Item Response Theory (IRT) models to analyze language test data. In a university second language institute, results of typical versions of tests of French as a Second Language (n=831 examinees) and of English as a Second Language (n=617 examinees) were subjected to non-linear factor analysis in…