Through example, shows that the accuracy of the assessment of language competence, performance, and dominance of the potentially bilingual student may be seriously impaired by inappropriate conditions of observation and lack of knowledge by the assessor. (TO)

Concluding part of a continued article. (SK)

Contrastive analysis a priori predicts facts of possible errors in learning a second language that contrastive analysis a posteriori cannot explain. In a study of relative clause formation, the latter approach shows that students have no trouble, whereas the former approach shows the task to be so difficult that they avoid it. (AG)

The purpose of this newsletter is to report current activities concerning the study of child language. Each issue will offer reports of ongoing research, announcements of upcoming meetings and conferences and reports on those recently held, and news of recent publications concerning language acquisition. This issue's research report is "Child…

A group of 18 children from 5 to 12 years old in a FLES course in Mandarin Chinese were graded by three native speakers on their ability to repeat Mandarin Chinese sentences with which they were already familiar and on their ability to produce appropriate sentences to describe posters used in the Chinese class. These grades in Chinese were…

Reports on an experiment, conducted on 63 students of English, which sought to determine whether certain students within heterogeneous population groups can be expected to make significantly more rapid gains than others, and whether scores on a standardized proficiency test can identify students who will make greater or lesser gains. (Author/AM)

Bilingual subjects' decoding of texts in mixed language requires no more time than their decoding of material in homogeneous language. Bilingual speakers appear not to command two separate lexical lists, but only one basic internal dictionary consisting of the lexical items they have learned for both languages. (DB)

The current emphasis on "teaching in the language of the child" has led to a demand for bilingual programs in Mexican-American communities. Ninety preschool children, assumed to be Spanish speaking, were referred to a summer program for amelioration of English language deficiency. Spanish and English versions of the Preschool Language…

A discussion of the preparation needed for successful translation and interpreting. In addition to proficiency in the language the future translator must have general knowledge and specific translative and interpretive skills. The distinctions between translation and interpretation is explained. A list of references is included. (AMH)

A study was undertaken at the Canadian Forces Base Saint-Jean to determine whether sex is a significant factor in second language learning. Subjects were 200 females and 200 males, all francophone privates between 18 and 22; no significant differences between males and females as learners were found. (CFM)

Research was supported in part by a faculty grant from the San Jose State College Foundation. (DS)

A list of publication sources for language tests and a 48-item bibliography are appended; a preprint from a pamphlet to be published by the National Conference on Research in English. (Editor/RD)

Asserts that language mastery should be judged separately from knowledge, reasoning ability and personality traits. Recognition of and communication of intention are discussed as key factors in language mastery, and the skills of reading, speaking, writing and comprehension are described as independent skills. (RM)