This article describes and reviews the Singapore-Cambridge General Certificate of Education Advanced Level General Paper (GP) examination. As a written test that is administered to preuniversity students, the GP examination is internationally recognised and accepted by universities and employers as proof of English competence. In this article, the…

Indicates that the format and use of the informal reading inventory need to be modified in order to address recent research findings of schema theory, text analysis, and metacognition. (FL)

Because testing comprehension of long (5- to 10-page) second-language texts is more complex than testing shorter texts, an alternative form of second language reading comprehension test is needed. In a guided summary completion test, students are presented with a greatly shortened version of the text (e.g., one-paragraph summary), containing…

Current issues in the literature on the testing of linguistic and communicative proficiency are reviewed and discussed in relation to reading comprehension testing. Several theoretical issues in language testing are discussed, including testing purposes and test validity. Areas of concern regarding methods of testing reading comprehension are then…

This guide to the ninth-grade French test for Alberta students describes the testing program, provides examples of the type of test to be administered in June 1990, and includes an answer key. Information about the testing program includes general objectives, an overview of the program type, students exempted from the test, testing for students…

The manual for administration of the Chinese Proficiency Test contains an overview of the program, including: (1) its history, content, and format; (2) its primary focus and uses; (3) administration procedures, including registration, ordering the test, reporting scores, and billing; (4) the interpretation of test scores based on normative data…

A proficiency examination developed for placing non-native English-speakers in appropriate expository writing courses is described. The instrument is a multiple-choice examination containing items that test specific expository writing skills through reading skills. The rationale for including such items for placement in expository writing courses,…

A study with 503 applicants to the University of Helsinki (Finland) medical school compared the predictive validity of multiple-choice science tests and a "learning-from-text" test (LFT) designed to measure deep-level text processing. Results indicated the LFT was the best predictor of student academic progress in basic science courses.…