A STUDY WAS UNDERTAKEN TO INVESTIGATE FOREIGN LANGUAGE LEARNING IN BOTH INTRAINING AND FIELD PROGRAMS OF THE PEACE CORPS, AND TO DETERMINE INDIVIDUAL AND EXPERIENCE FACTORS AFFECTING THE RATE OF LANGUAGE LEARNING. THE OBJECTIVE WAS TO DEVELOP A PROTOTYPE FOR A PARAMETRIC STUDY INVOLVING SUCH FACTORS AS LANGUAGE APTITUDE AND PRIOR LANGUAGE…

A study involving 40 nursery school and kindergarten children was conducted to obtain information on how preschool children understand the following three aspects of spoken sentences: word patterns; word regularities, and word relationships. Available from: Journal of Practical Approaches to Developmental Handicap, 3304-33rd Street N.W., Calgary,…

Suggests that giving students two copies of a language test allows the student the opportunity to check his answers, know his results immediately, and possibly add points to his original score through self-correction. (CHK)

The Illinois Test of Psycholinguistic Abilities was used to test and compare the language related functioning of 20 autistic and 20 mentally retarded 11-12 year olds. (BB)

Evaluation of performance on the Preschool Language Scale of 18 low-vision children (two to four years old) found lower performance than for sighted peers, especially on the Auditory Comprehension Quotient, the Verbal Ability Quotient, and the overall Language Quotient. (Author/DB)

A foreign language teacher relates how instruction, testing, and student achievement have changed with the use of GCSE instead of the traditional CSE/GCE in French instruction. (CB)

Neither the race of the examiner nor the race of the child depicted in the stimulus materials affected the language performance of randomly selected Black and White elementary children (N=79) when language performance was measured in terms of response length and reponse latency. (Author/CL)

Discusses the origins and uses of proficiency-based systems in government and education, an initial application of proficiency-based foreign language oral skills assessment in one corporate setting, and the wide range of potential applications of proficiency-based systems for business, industry, and the professions in general. (SED)

Reports on an analysis of two administrations of two reading tests--the first time without the reading passages and the second time with the passages--in order to determine the extent to which questions can be answered without reading the texts on which they are based. (SED)

Thirty visually impaired children (6-12 years old) were administered The Word Test which does not use visual stimulus. Correlation between age and scores and comparisons of test results for individuals with test norms indicate that The Word Test can be used in assessing language disorders among visually impaired children. (Author/CL)

The article analyzes software for assessing language, noting advantages and disadvantages of such programs as Computerized Language Sample Analysis and Lingquest 1 Language Sample Analysis. In addition, software for assessing phonetic and phonological performance is also considered. (CL)

The article suggests that comparability, representativeness, and typicality must be considered along with length when collecting language samples. A framework is offered for selecting or devising tasks, and one successful battery is described which has been field tested on language-disordered children with syntax problems. (CL)

A course devoted to the teaching of the pronunciation of German begins with a systematic comparison of English and German sounds. During each class, troublesome sounds are practiced or reviewed, new sounds are practiced, weekly reading assignments are discussed, and the day's assignment is read aloud. (SED)

Discusses each of the questions, the correct answers, and how student responses were evaluated in the Vergil and Catullus-Horace essay sections of the Latin Advanced Placement exam. (EKN)

Suggests that the English-as-a-foreign-language field would benefit by using the same types of tests as those of "Graded Objectives in Modern Languages," which are used in British schools to test foreign language learning. Presents test items which are typical of the British tests. (SED)