Examines critically, from the viewpoint of communication-oriented teaching, K. Gerhold's "French Placement Tests 7-plus and 8-plus" (Beltz: Weinheim 1974). Considers how communicative skill can best be tested. Suggestions are given for designing informal tests. (Text is in German.) (IFS/WGA)

The purposes of this paper are to: (1) describe the general linguistic situation in Alaska, (2) describe the bilingual education situation, and (3) discuss the effectiveness of the bilingual education programs and give an idea of the potential of bilingual education as a social force in Alaska. Much of the information is summarized in a number of…

This report summarizes a study published in 1967 by Harvard University which assessed foreign language proficiency of U.S. college seniors majoring in French, Spanish, Italian, German, and Russian. The measures used were the following: the MLA Foreign Language Proficiency Tests (Form A): Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing; the Modern…

The transfer of students at 13+ from middle to high school requires high school teachers to assess heterogenous groups of children from different middle schools. Ways of predicting students' success at further language study are suggested. (RM)

Each section of the Pimsleur Language Aptitude Battery and the CREDIF CGM 62 tests is briefly described. (RM)

Efforts to better the school Leaving Exams in English of a large African state lead to the belief that schools should do away with them completely. Where this cannot be done, a thorough, systematic evaluation of reading comprehension, structure, and usage should be combined with productive integrative evaluation. (SCC)

This monograph consists of the foreign language sections of the seven "Mental Measurements Yearbooks" (1938-1972) and "Tests in Print II" (1974). The brief foreign language test descriptions from TIP II, totaling 105, are provided first, followed by the lengthier reviews, which total 184, from each of the seven MMYs. In…

Describes analysis made of the results of candidates in 1973 Mode 1 examination in French of the North Western Secondary School Examinations Board which showed that less able language students performed disproportionately badly on tests of written self-expression. Implications for teacher and examiner are discussed. (RM)

Describes the Indiana University French Communicative Ability Test, developed to test communicative ability at a relatively low level (beginning university French), and in a large, multi-section program. (AM)

Discusses low reading levels, the drop in SAT scores, and the drop in language enrollments in relation to the study of classics.

This report is a summary of the results of the administration of the Modern Language Association of America (MLA) Proficiency Tests to native speakers in Chile, Columbia, France, German, Italy, and Spain. The notion of a "superior" level of competence in reading, writing, aural comprehension, and speaking a second language is specified…

The new Arabic Proficiency Test for College Level is designed to serve the field of Arabic instruction in a number of ways. First, it will provide data on students' proficiency in Arabic. Second, it will aid in evaluating Arabic programs in American and Canadian higher institutions. Third, the results obtained from the users of the test will form…

A testing technique is reported for testing oral production which attempts to combine the advantages of the interview test and the standardized, discrete-point test and to improve standardization of tests of oral production. (RM)

The Cloze test is explained, and an experiment described which was conducted by the Ministry of Education in 1973 using Cloze tests as language exercises in the matriculation examination. Results of the test and teachers' evaluations are reported, and sample passages given. (RM)

The final (high school graduation) examination in French is uniform throughout West Germany, but the states have autonomy in building their course plans. A comparison of curricula reveals many differences, resulting in a difference in the proficiency of graduates. Their final examination scores are not comparable. (Text is in German.) (IFS/WGA)