The language research study was designed to compare first, the meanings of concrete words having visual connotations and second, the groupings or clusters of adjective scales resulting from factor analysis as they were used by 143 blind, partially sighted, and normal school-age children. (CB)

The author uses a brief discussion of the many seemingly successful attempts to find a context for Chomsky's supposedly meaningless sentence Colorless green ideas sleep furiously," as a starting point for a discussion of devising multiple choice vocabulary tests where the correct choice is clear and unambigous. (FB)

Features of the writing tests reported on here were: the presentation of instructions by means of tapes and written guidelines, and emphasis on factual rather than imaginative subjective matter, and a standardized system of grading. (FWB)

Greater understanding of language and social forces constraining language performance has complicated the view of language as a code and the learner as an object to be conditioned. Serious questions arise, then, regarding effective testing of linguistic/communicative competence and the use of test results for educational decision making.…

Suggests using an immediate recall protocol, in which students read a passage as often as they like, surrender the text and then write down everything they can remember, as a way to circumvent the pitfalls of traditional test design and focus on communication between test and reader. (EKN)

Provides short descriptions of the major standardized language proficiency tests currently available for English and French as a second language. Contains annotated lists of references on testing global language proficiency and communicative competence and on the testing of individual skill proficiencies. (EKN)

Results of a study which examined inter- and intrarater reliability of the Oral Interview test suggest that communicative tests such as the Oral Interview can be used reliably, in spite of their subjective nature. (EKN)

Reviews four standardized tests geared to helping development educators in placing students in courses and assessing their learning levels: the Davis Reading Test; the Descriptive Tests of Language Skills; the Descriptive Tests of Mathematics Skills; and the Nelson-Denny Reading Test. (CAM)

Discusses the present state of assessing students' oral language proficiency. Includes a comparison of achievement and proficiency test formats, an explanation of the ratings system, and a discussion on the need for a common standard. The adoption of frequency ratings by the academic community is a way off. (PJM)

The study investigated the relationship among the grammatical distinctions produced by three language-delayed or language-disordered children on the expressive part of the Northwestern Syntax Screening Test, the Carrow Elicited Language Inventory, and the Menyuk Sentences and those generated in a spontaneous language sample. (PHR)