Finds that the foreign language training of future teachers of French now studying in West German universities is not designed to improve their subsequent performance as teachers. (Text is in German.) (IFS/WGA)

In discussing assessment and its applicability to the needs of Spanish-speaking students, several types of testing approaches are needed. This paper focuses on the use of comprehensive assessment offered by multiple matrix sampling techniques. (SW)

The test, multiple choice in form, has no place for oral expression. Other criticisms are given, e.g., that the test seems to rest on a faulty teaching plan, specifically in the sequencing of grammatical problems to be mastered. (Text is in German.) (IFS/WGA)

Proposes, for the oral portion of the final (graduation) examination, the text as basic object, from which a section should be read aloud. A 15-point grading scale is described. Regarding content, performance in "informing,""interpreting and extrapolating," and "evaluating and discussion" are to be graded. (Text is in…

Examines critically, from the viewpoint of communication-oriented teaching, K. Gerhold's "French Placement Tests 7-plus and 8-plus" (Beltz: Weinheim 1974). Considers how communicative skill can best be tested. Suggestions are given for designing informal tests. (Text is in German.) (IFS/WGA)

Language instructors at one college devised a program to increase oral proficiency in language students. An oral proficiency test was developed to measure student performance. Results show that since the proficiency test has been required, students make more efforts to increase these skills through study, conversation and language laboratory use.…

Expressive performance objectives are described as those identifications of higher level language abilities students are expected to acquire. These objectives are sufficiently open-ended to include communicative competence. "Real language activities" are increasingly central in the classroom and must therefore be evaluated. Procedures for testing…

Responses of 155 state language supervisors, local education agency representatives, leaders of foreign language associations, and others to a questionnaire regarding states' development or adoption of guidelines to improve articulation or proficiency standards revealed that most states are engaged in devising or have devised some sort of…

Describes a method for examining oral communicative competence in a foreign language using an open form of role play. The method's reliability and accuracy lies in its basis on what is learned in the classroom. (CB)

A new national program being developed by France's Ministry of Education will create nationally regulated certification of elementary level French language skills for foreigners. The certification is not attached to any course or curriculum but will be available to anyone with specific practical language competencies. (MSE)

Reports on the first attempt to develop an observation procedure based on the "profile analysis" approach to assess the syntactic and morphological development of adult learners of English as a second language. Problems with criteria assessment are described, and suggestions for refinement are given. (Author/DJD)

Advocates a "process" viewpoint of language use for second language proficiency testing and explores its potential for greater insights from five perspectives: text linguistics and discourse analysis; interlanguage; expectancy; negotiation and interaction; and communication strategies. (Author/CB)

Explores several areas related to the development of reading skills in the Business Foreign Language course, including pre-reading activities, schema theory, the importance of background knowledge, and post-reading activities, and presents examples of how such activities as reading periodicals in the second language can enhance learning.…

Examines how six "sway" students, that is, students who have learned how to interact verbally with the teacher in a foreign language, affected the organization of interaction and language development in a high school Spanish class. The effect was that they allowed the teacher to progress effectively through the lesson. (Author/SED)

Discusses the possible limitations and the advantages of computer-assisted language testing and several test variables which are of concern in determining test validity. The concept of computer-adaptive testing and its relationship to these variables is described. (SED)