The design of vocabulary tests, particularly for English as a Second Language, is discussed. The discussion is intended to help language teachers with little or no knowledge of testing gain a better understanding of vocabulary testing. First, a set of principles for guiding the writing of vocabulary tests are outlined, presented in the form of…

The three tests that make up this instrument are designed to assess the oral communication, grammatical fluency, and vocabulary development of students for whom English is a second language. The spoken English test comes in two versions: one with 90 items on a cassette tape, the other with 90 items to be read aloud by the examiner. Each version is…

A discussion of vocabulary development for intermediate and advanced students preparing for the Australian certification test for Teaching English as a Foreign Language focuses on nine areas: collocations, clines, clusters, cloze procedures, context, consultation or checking, cards, creativity, and guessing. (seven references) (LB)

A discussion of the ease or difficulty of learning vocabulary words in a second language looks at a variety of issues in second language instruction. Research on factors in vocabulary learning is discussed, focusing on such factors as similarity in form and morphology, deceptive morphological structure, different syntactic patterning in the native…

Issues related to the estimation of individuals' vocabulary size are discussed, including the rationale for vocabulary size research and the psychological, pedagogical, and quantitative approaches to vocabulary research and methodological problems associated with them. Some results from a large-scale assessment of Finnish comprehensive school…

A description of an English proficiency test illustrates the communicative approach to language testing. The test measures students' ability to identify specific notions, give appropriate responses, use correct grammatical structures and vocabulary, engage in grammatical/spelling/capitalization problem solving, and use task-based material in…

A manual for teaching vocabulary to students of English as a second language is introduced by a discussion of the reasons for neglecting vocabulary development in the past and the reasons for the present emphasis on it. The chapters that follow develop practical instructional methods for each language learning level. The topics include: (1)…

A questionnaire used to elicit from university students their uses for, attitudes about, and problem areas in French vocabulary learning is presented and discussed. In the questionnaire, a series of brief lexical exercises tests understanding of word similarities and commonalities, lexical functions, registers, antonyms, paraphrasing,…

The book is designed to help language teachers write better tests, taking the view that test construction is an exercise in problem-solving, with every teaching situation presenting a different problem that an understanding of the underlying principles of testing can help solve. Examples are given from testing of English as a Second Language…

Materials presented here include a variety of resources for teachers of Esperanto: a brief guide to Esperanto teaching, including suggested teacher qualifications, a listing of instructional materials and resources, including serials, with details of publication, activities in preparation for teaching, grade-level class activities, notes on…

This study investigated the testing of speaking vocabulary in English as a Second Language (ESL) at a university in Hawaii. A Speaking Vocabulary Test (SVT) was developed and piloted with college students. Test-takers (n=37) were divided into three groups: native English-speaking freshmen and sophomores; non-native English-speaking freshmen,…

This document consists of the two issues of "English Teachers' Journal (Israel)" issued during 1991. Contents include: "Introduction for English Teachers"; "Announcements for Bagrut Teachers and Examiners"; "News from E.T.A.I. (English Teachers' Association of Israel)" (Ephraim Weintroub); "Learning…

Alberta's curriculum guide for a two-year German program to begin in grade 7 or 8 outlines the program's philosophy and rationale, goals and objectives, minimum expectations for communication skill development and cultural understanding, required and elective content and themes, recommended instructional materials, suggested time allotments,…

This article discusses second language vocabulary learning strategies and includes an analysis and classification of possible strategies and the report of a study conducted among second language learners in Japan. Research on vocabulary learning strategies is synthesized into two lists of strategies: 14 methods for initial learning of a new word's…

An examination of second language learning focuses on how universal cognitive processes in language learning and individual differences account for differences in language learning patterns. An introductory section gives background information suggesting that psycholinguistic factors in language learning should receive more attention for two…