The Bilingual Reading Study employs several measures of oral language proficiency: (1) a standardized oral language proficiency test, the Language Assessment Scales (LAS); (2) teacher ratings on the Student Operational Language Assessment Scale (SOLA); (3) teacher ratings on the Southwest Educational Development Laboratory (SEDL) Oral Language…

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.…

The Functional Language Assessment (FLA) is a screening test which, when used in combination with teacher ratings and English achievement test scores, helps identify students, aged 5 through 13 from non-English speaking backgrounds, in need of bilingual programs. The language proficiency test can be administered by school staff who do not speak…

A guide to assist prospective test users in the selection of commonly used standardized achievement tests is presented. The tests include seven readiness tests (prekindergarten and kindergarten), 10 English reading and mathematics tests (grades 1 through 12), and two Spanish achievement tests (grades 1 through 12). Most of the readiness tests are…

THIS STUDY, CONDUCTED BY THE WISCONSIN ENGLISH-LANGUAGE-ARTS CURRICULUM PROJECT, DESCRIBES, ANALYZES, AND EVALUATES 16 STANDARDIZED ENGLISH TESTS OF USAGE AND COMPOSITION. THE TESTS CHOSEN WERE THOSE FREQUENTLY USED THROUGHOUT WISCONSIN, EXCLUSIVE OF TESTS DESIGNED FOR COLLEGE-PREPARATORY STUDENTS AND TESTS OF READING ABILITY, SPEECH, AND…

ALTHOUGH MOST EDUCATORS AGREE THAT EXAMINATIONS PERFORM AN IMPORTANT FUNCTION IN APPRAISING STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT, SOME CLAIM THAT MULTIPLE CHOICE TESTS DEGENERATE INTO A GAME OF "BEAT THE MONKEY," I.E., ANSWERING MORE THAN 25 PERCENT OF THE ITEMS CORRECTLY, THE RATING EVEN A MONKEY COULD BE EXPECTED TO RECEIVE. SAMPLE STUDIES REVEAL THAT THE…

FLORIDA TEACHERS FROM ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS THROUGH UNIVERSITIES COOPERATED ON THIS GUIDE TO DEVELOP PROFICIENCY IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE COMMUNICATION SKILLS. THE GUIDE DESCRIBES FOUR LEARNING LEVELS FOR ELEMENTARY AND HIGH SCHOOLS TO BE COMPLETED IN A SINGLE FOREIGN LANGUAGE, WITH TWO POSSIBLE ADDITIONAL LEVELS. THE FOCUS IS ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF A…

The purpose of the present study was to compare performance of bilingual and monolingual children on certain language-related skills. Fifteen children between the ages of three years, eight months, and seven years were matched for age and sex in each of the following four groups: middle-class monolinguals, lower-class monolinguals, Spanish-English…

The bulk of this guide is devoted to the detailed description of 18 tests of English as a second language (ESL). Most of the tests were produced in Great Britain, the remainder in the United States. Each description provides information on the source, aims, and administration of the test; outlines the content of the test; and, where pertinent,…

The English Phonemic Unit Test measures the ability to produce difficult English sounds which must be mastered to speak English well. The test has been used with students from kindergarten to college. The instument was consensually validated by bilingual specialists, after analyzing the test according to contrastive analysis procedures applied to…

The following articles appear in this issue of a journal devoted to teaching English for science and technology in Kuwait: (1) "An Approach to the Implementation of Dr. J.L. Munby's 'Communicative Syllabus Design'" by Bill Robinson, (2) "Une experience d'elaboration de materiel pedagogique" (An Experiment in Developing Teaching…

AS THE RESULT OF A CALIFORNIA LEGISLATIVE MANDATE FOR A COMPREHENSIVE LANGUAGE PROGRAM BEGINNING AT THE SIXTH GRADE LEVEL, WEST HIGH SCHOOL SET UP A TWO-FOLD LANGUAGE ACHIEVEMENT TEST TO ACCURATELY PLACE QUALIFIED STUDENTS IN ADVANCED COURSES AND TO GET A GENERAL IDEA OF THE LEVEL OF ACHIEVEMENT OF INCOMING STUDENTS WITH VARIOUS DEGREES OF…

A review of publications in foreign language instruction from 1946 to 1952 focuses attention on the experimental studies conducted during that period and the resulting literature. The first part of the article notes bibliographies, reviews, reference books, and studies examining trends and objectives. A section on the psychology of language…

A profile of English language teaching in Poland is provided in outline form. The following topics are dealt with: the role of English in the country, teaching hours per week in English at each educational level, English language versus English literature, public examinations, syllabuses and textbooks, specialized English programs, adult English…

This pamphlet discusses the need for reliable standardized tests for the selection and classification of Welsh-dominant students in Wales and for the evaluation of their language skills. Because of the correlation in performance, the standardized word-recognition test described here applies to predominantly Welsh-background individuals and not to…