The debate over whether classroom verbal exchanges should be evaluated by pedagogical or discourse criteria, and how this evaluation should be accomplished in class, is reopened. An approach combining the two types of analysis through development of "communication profiles" is recommended as the best means of clearly viewing the phenomenon of…

Describes "Project Languages," a research study which looked at: (1) reasons for language study, (2) its perceived contribution to secondary education, (3) availability of languages in the secondary schools, (4) reasons for the decline in numbers studying languages, (5) new developments in language offerings, and (6) current examination…

Describes a study which submitted data from a multiple-choice English as a second language reading comprehension test to classical test theory item analysis and latent trait measurement. The purpose was to identify weak items and to compare the number of weak items indicated by the two different approaches. (SED)

Discusses a test given to a group of elementary school students of English as a second language. The purpose of the test was to measure developmental errors, that is, errors which reflect a learner's competence at a given stage, and to illustrate some of the general characteristics of language acquisition. (SED)

Discusses the three main approaches to defining language knowledge and use: (1) the structural approach, (2) the functional approach, and (3) the general proficiency approach. Asserts that each approach has specific consequences for language testing and that no one approach can claim to be the only way of representing that knowledge. (Author/SED)

Presents a survey of the procedures and policies governing testing of second language ability for admission into Canadian postsecondary institutions. Findings indicate that most institutions use some means of measuring English as a second language but that testing procedures and policies had rarely been subjected to validation studies within the…

Describes a study which investigated reading comprehension among fourth-quarter college French students using a computer. The main thrust of the investigation was to test recall of information in a passage that had been read five minutes previously and was unavailable for reference during the question-answering phrase. (AMH)

The concurrent validity of the Diagnostic Analysis of Reading Errors (DARE) subtests was studied, based on the responses of Lebanese secondary and postsecondary students relative to their achievement in an English course or on a standardized test of English proficiency. The results indicate that the DARE is not a viable predictor of English…

Describes Purdue University's two oral proficiency interviews that are a prerequisite to student teaching in a foreign language. Focuses on the procedures and content of the interviews for students of German. A three-member committee has the student read one page of materials and then asks the student questions. (SED)

Describes a program instituted at the University of Southern California in which semester-based language requirements were replaced by a proficiency-based requirement which would be satisfied only through demonstration of communication skills in a foreign language. Gives the initial results as measured by test scores, enrollment, and attitude…

Wherever aural comprehension is prized, together with literacy and ability to read the foreign language, dictation may be found to be both profitable for teaching and valid for testing. It must not be presented as a series of spelling traps but as a realistic language activity. (Author/CFM)

Discusses the results of the administration of the SLOPE test, a measure of oral production, to 66 adult speakers of English as a second language. (Author/RM)

An essay test is now an integral part of the computer based Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL-CBT). This paper provides a brief overview of the current TOEFL-CBT essay test, describes the operational procedures for essay scoring, including the Online Scoring Network (OSN) of the Educational Testing Service (ETS), and discusses major…

Part of a continuing series. (VM)