Key concerns about the psychometric properties of the 25-item version of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) have consistently been raised in the literature. The present study aimed at examining the meaningfulness of an alternative model to the SDQ in which 7 problematic items are excluded. French-speaking parents of 262 boys and…

According to the most widely accepted Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) model of intelligence measurement, each subtest score of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Adults (3rd ed.; WAIS-III) should reflect both 1st- and 2nd-order factors (i.e., 4 or 5 broad abilities and 1 general factor). To disentangle the contribution of each factor, we applied a…

This article presents a new set of experiments using the "sentence-matching paradigm" (Forster, 1979; Freedman and Forster, 1985; see also Bley-Vroman and Masterson, 1989), investigating native speakers' and second language (L2) learners' knowledge of constraints on clitic placement in French. Our purpose is three-fold: (1) to shed more light on…

Models such as Eckman's markedness differential hypothesis, Flege's speech learning model, and Brown's feature-based theory of perception seek to explain and predict the relative difficulty second language (L2) learners face when acquiring new or similar sounds. In this paper, we test their predictive adequacy as concerns native English speakers'…

In this study, non-French participants learned gender-appropriate adjectives for 24 French nouns. Findings indicate that learning the same set of feminine French nouns could be made more or less difficult when the nouns in the masculine category created more or less competition. (45 references) (Author/CK)

The one-parameter psychometric model known as the Rasch model is described and examined. The basic principles underlying the model and the concepts of unidimensionality, local stochastic independence, and additivity are explained in non-mathematical terms. The requirements of measurement procedures, the measurement of latent traits, the control on…

Discusses the concept of communicative competence in second language learning and various models for testing this skill. (AM)

Describes the academic context in which the "French CAT" was created and trialed and gives a detailed consideration of the test presentation platform and operating algorithms. Finally, the article evaluates the first administration of the test and discusses its reliability and validity as a placement instrument for first-year Australian…

Examined the validity of the pragmatic approach to test difficulty put forward by Child (1987). This study investigated whether the Child discourse-type hierarchy predicts text difficulty for second-language readers. Results suggested that this hierarchy may provide a sound basis for developing foreign-language tests when it is applied by trained…

Tested the hypothesis that phonological mediation plays a critical role in the early development of reading and spelling in French. The findings corroborated predictions regarding performance involving pseudowords of different syllablic structures except for the failure to find differences between open and closed syllables. Results confirmed the…