While proficiency tests make a positive statement about the language ability of those who pass, it says nothing about those who don't. Since the proficiency test's questions are too general, a "sufficiency" test was developed to determine if students had "enough" English to meet the needs that motivated their study. (PJM)

An oral situational structural test developed for ESL students is discussed. This article proposes that tests can be used as motivational instruments and as teaching instruments. Properly used, tests enable students to see a link between ultimate language proficiency and immediate exam passage. (CHK)

Recounts trends and classroom techniques noted in several schools visited by a University of Toronto delegation in 1972. Techniques include use of recordings, role-playing, discussion, songs, and recitation; speaker confidence was noted by the visitors. (MSE)

This paper reports evidence supporting the use of the cloze procedure technique as a reliable way of assessing the listening proficiency of foreign students of English. Evidence was gathered from two small-scale experiments. (CHK)

Error analysis has been presented as a means of "finding a shorter way" in the analysis of learners' difficulties in foreign languages. The alternative starts with a comparison of the native and foreign languages in order to predict such difficulties. The two types are complementary rather than mutually exclusive. (Author/MSE)

Comparative language tests in English and French were given to pupils of the Bilingual School, Buea, Republic of Cameroon, to measure the extent of bilingualism. The results showed that although English speakers made greater progress in learning French than vice versa, the system of language teaching has been a qualified success so far.…

Presents a re-evaluation of the data given by Oller in the June 1971 issue of ELT. (RM)

Discusses a research project carried out in Germany to compare the English proficiency of secondary students who had begun studying English in the third form (eight years old) with those who had begun in the fifth form (10-11 years old). (CFM)

Research at Queens College involving 116 English as a second language students revealed that proficiency in English, measured by a variety of tests, is more closely related to amount of formal instruction than to years spent in an English-speaking country, although a significant relationship exists between proficiency and each factor. (CFM)

Conversation classes have three goals: (1) to introduce and practice elements of spoken language; (2) to bring passive knowledge of the language into active use; and (3) to create a situation in which the two other goals may be realized. The place, the material, and the topic are important in achieving these goals. (CFM)

Points out that the emphasis in English language teaching should shift from spoken to written English since international communication today generally means gaining access to written information. (CFM)