Prompted by a lack of materials to test students' discrimination and production of minimal pairs and similar words, a teacher developed a technique that uses actual production of words in sentences. Students' reactions have been very positive, and the test is brief and simple to administer. (MSE)

This report provides suggestions on how a language arts speaking skills assessment program could be structured to ensure that school districts meet the Common Curriculum Goals of the public elementary and secondary schools in Oregon. This report includes: (1) a list of common curriculum goals that relate to speaking; (2) general implications for…

This book is intended for teachers of second and foreign languages who use and construct tests while they teach. The emphasis is on the process of testing, as well as the process involved in taking a test. The five chapters treat the following points: (1) an overview of classroom testing, its nature, process, and value; (2) a theoretical framework…

Focusing on the interpersonal communication course offered at Golden West College in California, this paper describes the competency-based approach of the course, the involvement of peer tutor/evaluators, and the use of the speech laboratory, where students demonstrate six specific skill competencies an average of two times during the course. The…

This issue of the Journal contains the following articles and features: (1) "Information for English Teachers"; (2) "The Group-Oral Test: An Experiment," by T. Reves; (3) "Finding a New Method for Testing Oral Proficiency," by L. Taharlev; (4) "The Experimental Oral Examination," by Y. Lapushin; (5) "One Vote for the Group Oral Test," by E.…

Recognizing that speech is an important component of the language arts and that the English curriculum is the most natural place for speech skills to be fostered, this handbook examines several methods of developing speech competencies within the secondary school English classroom. The first section, "Looking at Speech," examines the…

Discussions in speech and language pathology often contain references to language differences and the ways these differences compare with speech and language disorders. There is ongoing research on the regional varieties of English, and within the past decade, information on social and ethnic variation in language has been accumulating. Based on…