An overview of the application of instructional technology to second-language instruction over the past two decades is provided. A number of questions are raised that focus on the role and potential and future objectives of educational technology in foreign-language instruction. (JL)

Study abroad professionals have attempted in recent years to bring a statistical objectivity to the evaluation of the American study abroad experience. The complexity of international education is such that it is far from easy to move towards significant, objectively measurable, and comparable outcomes. This article presents a preliminary…

A discussion of second language testing focuses on the need for collaboration among researchers in second language learning, teaching, and testing concerning development of context-appropriate language tests. It is argued that the nature of the proficiency construct in language is not constant, but that different linguistic, functional, and…

This paper investigates what types of instruction-feedback combinations may contribute to the learning of English grammar for 120 Japanese university students. Students were given tests on grammaticality judgment and correction, using English ergative verbs in three trials of a post-instruction test. Subjects were divided into six groups according…

This study examined the ways in which adult, Korean, English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) learners performed the "request" speech act, with particular attention to deviations caused by negative transfer. An oral discourse completion test with six request situations was given to three groups of learners; situations varied in terms of the…

The book is designed to help language teachers write better tests, taking the view that test construction is an exercise in problem-solving, with every teaching situation presenting a different problem that an understanding of the underlying principles of testing can help solve. Examples are given from testing of English as a Second Language…

Increasingly, technology is incorporated into second language teaching and learning both in and out of classroom situations. The computer alone has many capabilities for enhancing language learning, but when combined with other technologies, the possibilities multiply for information retrieval, interactive audio- and video-assisted learning, use…

A study investigated whether instruction in how to use a dictionary led to improved second language performance and greater dictionary use among English majors (N=54) in a reading and writing course at a Thai university. One of three participating classes was instructed in the use of a monolingual learner's dictionary. A passage correction test…

The ways in which achievement in a foreign language is assessed in German secondary schools are outlined and illustrated with examples from the testing of English. The overall organization of assessment procedures is described, the situations for forms 5-10 and 11-13 are differentiated, and the regulations governing conditions for the…

The role of different types of testing instruments in second language programs is discussed. Knowledge-based tests, including discrete-point and integrative tests are contrasted with direct tests, including the Foreign Service Institute Scale and the Australian Second Language Proficiency Ratings (ASLPR). The ASLPR is described in detail in terms…

As part of the current trend toward adopting modern, objective-standardized test methods in evaluating the teaching of English as a foreign language (EFL) in the schools of the Socialist Republic of Romania, this review of pedagogical literature makes available to the English-reading audience information that has appeared in Romanian materials.…

A profile method was used to analyze the patterns of four English proficiency tests (Comprehensive English Language Test for Speakers of English as a Second Language: Structure, CELT: Listening, Reading for Understanding Test, and The New Cloze Test) regarding two examinee characteristics: their language proficiency levels and native language. One…

A manual for use in training French and Spanish language examiners at the Foreign Service Institute is presented here. After a discussion of the history of the language proficiency test and of the testing procedure and evaluation techniques, the following topics are covered: (1) language proficiency ratings based on the absolute criterion of the…

This study endeavored to determine (1) the reliability with which selected individual tests of language, visual and auditory perception, and auditory-visual perceptual integration can be administered through group testing; (2) the decrease in administration and scoring time by using these instruments in a group manner, and (3) the relationships…

Developing test instruments for the Pattern Drills Program in the Pittsburg Public Schools has convinced the writer that the more test development activities and the teaching process reinforce each other, the stronger the program is. The Pattern Drills Program aims to develop bidialectism in non-standard English speakers by teaching standard…