Noting the growing number of foreign students in colleges in the United States, this paper argues that communication educators should devote more discussion to the development of oral proficiency in those students. This paper (1) discusses the significance of the problem facing educators and foreign students, (2) examines the language training of…

Dictations are not sufficient as exercises for developing listening comprehension skills. Other techniques and exercises which have been used in English for Special Purposes classes include practice in note taking, cloze-testing on lectures, mock formal interviews and informal conversations, and discourse analyses of sample lectures. Such analyses…

One-half-page resumes of a variety of tests applicable to secondary level bilingual education have been compiled here. The following areas are covered, with the number of tests in each area in parentheses: multiple skills (5), writing (2), listening and speaking (5), grammar (4), reading (2), aptitude (3), occupational interest (4), general…

This study sought to test the validity of the claim that certain Swedish and corresponding English vowel phonemes are indistinguishable when presented in a test containing isolated minimally contrastive words. It also sought to find a hierarchy of perceptual differences between Swedish and English phonemes. A series of 40 pairs of monosyllabic…

University students were the subjects of three experiments designed to determine the usefulness of elliptic speech in investigating the perception of the phonological structure of continuous speech. Five naturally spoken and five synthesized paragraphs were recorded in two different randomizations of phonological distortions and at two different…

This diagnostic instrument was developed for use with non-English-speakinq adult students. Four tests measure listening comprehension and oral proficiency at four levels of English proficiency. The Level One test assesses the student's ability to identify specific vocabulary items; no oral response is necessary. Survival vocabulary and the ability…

Although English teachers must spend 40 to 60% of their teaching time in developing the listening, composition, reading, and speech skills of their students, most college English programs allow only 8% of the professional course time for teacher preparation in these skill areas. Even in those colleges that offer a language arts major, the majority…

This bibliography includes materials for educators who are concerned with assessment of basic speaking and listening skills and is categorized as follows: (1) speech rating scales; (2) listening; (3) functional communication; (4) bilingual education; (5) reviews of tests and instruments; (6) materials on practices in states and local districts;…

The language the Negro child brings with him to school has a linguistic structure which is clearly distinguishable from that of standard English. His language is not a defective form of speech. There is, however, what Labov calls, "reciprocal ignorance," a mutual lack of comprehension for the other's language system. Writing is a secondary symbol…

The development, design, and purposes of these advanced proficiency tests are discussed, along with brief descriptions of their seven component parts--listening comprehension, speaking, reading, writing, applied linguistics, civilization and culture, and professional preparation. Some of the research inspired by the tests is identified. (AF)

Two bibliographies, each of which is divided into two parts, provide information on reading in the content areas of language arts and literature. The first part contains abstracts of documents selected from six basic ERIC/CRIER references. The second part lists annotated materials from a seventh reference in order to provide access to literature…

This experiment was designed to determine how oral report activities, following exposure to an informative message, can influence children's retention of topical and factual information from the message. The message was a prose passage about modes of transportation. Second grade students (N=51) were subjects. A third of the children presented oral…

This book is based on the following assumptions: there are recognized skills of decoding that are essential to the reading act; these skills can be identified by the knowledgeable reading teacher; there is a level of reading at which every child can best be taught; and reading comprehension is comprehension of the lexical and syntactical elements…

This booklet consists of guidelines for teaching language usage and skills, oral and written composition, and listening in the fourth, fifth, and sixth grades. A statement of approach introduces the three main sections of the guide. In the first section, programs are detailed in charts under the following four categories for each of the three…

Standardized norm-referenced tests have been much maligned in recent years. They differ from criterion referenced tests in that the latter involve assessment in comparison to an absolute standard or specific performance objective while in a norm-referenced test assessment is made in comparison to other students taking the same test. Standardized…