This collection of 10 reports focuses on research in the area of language and understanding, with emphasis on the effects of such research on language teaching and applied linguistics. The reports address issues in psycholinguistics, pragmatics, second language acquisition, syntax, text linguistics, language testing, and sociolinguistics. The…

This overview of the 40 year development of language proficiency rating at the Foreign Service Institute (FSI) and elsewhere in the federal government focuses on three issues pertaining to the scale and the raters: (1) the number of levels of differentiation in the scale; (2) the relation of the scale to the rating task; and (3) the calibration of…

A study of the discourse structure of oral language proficiency interviews focused on (1) one principal discourse variable, topic, for analyzing contingency and goal orientation in dyadic interactions, and (2) contextual factors (interlocutor, theme, task, participant gender). Data came from 30 dyadic oral interviews in English as a Second…

A study investigated whether English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) students' understanding of culturally-loaded words (those that are similar in primary meaning but different in connotation between the two languages) approximates that of native speakers of English, and how much English proficiency level may account for the extent of this…

This discussion of the development of oral proficiency in a second language first examines relevant research and then suggests guidelines for designing classroom techniques for teaching oral proficiency. Research in cognitive psychology is reviewed, focusing on information processing theory and forgetting theory. Research discussed in the area of…

A study of immigrants investigated the relationship between education in the native language (L1) and development of oral proficiency in a second language (L2), also considering other variables such as age, age at settlement, and length of settlement in the L2 country. Literacy in L1 was not a formal variable, but was roughly implied by extent of…

The rapid changes occurring in foreign language teaching in recent years present substantial challenges for language teachers. While they welcome new methods, techniques, and approaches, they are confronted with sometimes conflicting needs and external pressures. Language teachers are actively involved in improving both their own training and the…

An experimental test consisting of dialogue with intermittent pauses for responses and a white noise accompaniment was given to non-English speakers who were candidates for admission to the English Department at Bar Ilan University in order to evaluate aural comprehension. Development of the test and results are reported. (RM)

A study of the language use of 45 transitional Spanish-English bilinguals focused on subject pronoun usage patterns evolving when the bilingual has acquired both a prodrop (Spanish) and a non-prodrop (English) language and frequently switches between them. Subjects were of Mexican, Cuban, and Puerto Rican background, and had not attained the…

This study investigated how and when foreign language competence makes a difference in the international operations of U.S.-based corporations, what skills are required, and how companies access them. Thirty-two interviews were conducted in nine companies of varying size and type, with people representing a variety of perspectives in human…

A study is described which investigated the differences between English-as-a-second-language (ESL) writers and native-English-speaking writers and examined closely a range of ESL writers and their composing processes. The procedures used were those used by Sondra Perl in a study of the composing processes of unskilled college writers (1979).…

A study of the French language learning progress of immigrants to Quebec had four objectives: (1) to identify the functional level of oral French of two groups of immigrants after language training at one of the province's immigrant orientation centers; (2) to verify whether after a six month period of employment the language proficiency level has…

On the basis of Soviet experience, types of work are sketched which are designed to develop the ability of the learner in dialogue and in group conversations. Russian and English examples illustrate the presentations. (Text is in German.) (IFS/WGA)

Recognizing that school personnel serving limited English proficient students would benefit from objective and valid measures of language assessment, a study viewed the oral language performance of second language learners of English between the ages of six and eight in order to chart the development of selected syntactic structures in their…