Examination boards are often criticized for their failure to provide evidence of comparability across forms, and few such studies are publicly available. This study aims to investigate the extent to which three forms of the General English Proficiency Test Intermediate Speaking Test (GEPTS-I) are parallel in terms of two types of validity…

A project to identify alternative strategies for assessing the academic language of English language learners is reported. First, literature on the concept of academic language is reviewed, and then findings from classroom research are used to propose an alternative conceptualization of academic language, one which focuses on the role of stylistic…

Computer-based and audio tape materials were compared for their effectiveness in helping students practice Chinese language lessons. Subjects were enrolled in an intensive elementary course in Mandarin Chinese. The textbook and audio tape were prepared by the Beijing Language Institute in China, and the computer-based material was developed by the…

A study investigated the relationships among language proficiency, learning mode, learning style, abstract reasoning, and age of second language acquisition in 227 adults. The subjects, most of whom were university students, included 17 monolinguals, 120 partial multilinguals, and 90 competent multilinguals. For comparison with competent…

This study examined learning style differences in samples of the native Spanish-speaking population of the Texas-Mexico border region, focusing on possible culture- and gender-related variation. Subjects were 187 students at six universities in Texas, who were administered a Spanish translated version of the Gregorc Style Delineator. Results…

A study of interlanguage comprehension, part of a larger project by the Gothenburg research group, investigated the telephone conversations between advanced learners and native speakers of Swedish. In four of the eight conversations, the non-native speakers called the public library to get information on how to borrow books; in the other four the…

A study is reported that investigated whether the foreign language learning outcomes of the poorest performers in Finnish schools could be improved by intensive remedial teaching. An experimental approach was taken with a group of 12 sixth grade students in a suburban school in Helsinki. Four were poor, four were average, and four were good…

The 1984 issue of the journal on second language teaching and learning contains five articles in French and two in English. These include the following: "Enseignement individuel vs. enseignement de masse (Individual Instruction vs. Large Group Instruction)" (Jacqueline Billant, Pascal Fade); "Systemes 'autonomisants' d'apprentissage des langues…

This study investigates the extent to which beginning to advanced students of English as a second language (ESL) understand antecedent/anaphora relationships in written discourse. The findings are related to previous research on anaphoric reference in first and second language contexts, emphasizing the significance of this factor in measurement of…

The results of two studies describing the strategies and attitudes of adult learners of English as a Second Language (ESL) are reported. The first study compared two groups of high/intermediate students (n=94) taking ESL in two settings, a traditional university and community extension classes. The second study examined intermediate and advanced…

A study investigated the validity of an English listening skills test by comparing the results of native American and British English speakers with those of Dutch students of English as a second language. A hypothesis suggested that two-thirds of the items would test listening skills and the remaining third would test other knowledge. Test results…

In a study of the detection of test item bias, Chinese speakers and Spanish speakers were administered a measure of pronunciation accuracy for the (d) and (z) morphemes. Six indices were calculated for each item: item difficulty, point biserial correlation coefficient, item variance, chi-square, Rasch logit of difficulty, and the average…

The writing apprehension experienced by Puerto Rican university students is examined. Levels of apprehension when writing in English versus native Spanish, for males versus females, and for students enrolled or not enrolled in writing classes are compared. The results indicate that the students, particularly the women, are more apprehensive when…

A study of the interlanguage of bilinguals and multilinguals compared the oral French proficiency of 20 native Swedish-speaking and 20 Finnish-speaking university students as evidenced in error patterns in oral tests. With the exception of phonological and phonetic errors in pronunciation, errors were classified by word class (article, noun,…

Four approaches to second language classroom teaching methods (audiolingual, cognitive code, communicative, and pragmaticist) are compared on their ability to promote oral communication in English as a second language. Six categories of analysis are used: classroom communicative activities, communicative goals reflecting the teacher's perceptions…