Criticisms of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) have included speculation that the listening test places too much burden on short-term memory as compared with comprehension, that a knowledge of reading is required to respond successfully, and that many items appear to require mere recall and matching rather than higher-order…

This Digest discusses how to integrate basic public speaking concepts into college students' personal and professional lives. The Digest first considers the relevance of the basic course and then suggests the application speech as one instructional activity which illustrates how the oral communication concepts presented in the basic course are…

Books on audiotape or videotape can be used in schools to provide independent reading experiences to beginning readers with limited preschool exposure to print. In addition, enabling children to hear stories while they look at the book may provide another support for literacy development in children at risk for reading difficulty. The efficacy of…

To ensure a lasting effect of the efforts made in early childhood programs, this manual provides specific, sequential curriculum-related activities for parents to use with infants and toddlers at home. Activities have been differentiated for the following three age groups: (1) 4 to 12 months; (2) 12 to 24 months; and (3) 24 to 36 months. The…

The guide provides information about a series of instructional materials for teaching Indonesian as a second language. The materials consist of audio recordings from Sanggar Prathivi, a Christian educational radio station in Jakarta (Indonesia), and scripts from the programs contained on diskettes (recordings and diskettes not included here). Two…

By helping students acquire deliberative skills, community colleges can help develop citizen leaders who can engage in public discussion about values that are commonly shared but differently applied. Moreover, deliberative skills, consisting of active listening, creative conflict, public dialogue, and public judgment, can provide a fresh approach…

This study examined the relation of performance on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) to a widely used variant of the cloze procedure, the multiple choice (MC) cloze method. Examinees taking an operational TOEFL (n=11,290) were given three basic sections of the test along with a section containing prepared MC cloze items, and…

Integrating language arts instruction with children's literature and content learning, this book helps teachers to teach children to use language effectively by connecting the teaching of listening, speaking, reading, and writing. The book blends content coverage with a balanced view of theory and practice. The book also provides examples of…

A universal language is needed whereby the international community can communicate in professions of common concern, and English is such a world language. Preparing the international community to read at functionally literate levels in English will strengthen and facilitate international trade. For career education purposes, a close link between…

This curriculum provides materials for a training program designed to enable front-line supervisors and union stewards to minimize production disruptions stemming from ongoing, unresolved conflicts among production workers. The program accomplishes this goal by giving participants the tools and confidence to design, implement, and run a process…

This document consists of the two issues published during 1998 of the newsletter of the Japan Association for Language Teaching (JALT) national special interest group (N-SIG) on foreign language literacy. Major articles in these issues are: "Academic Protocol and Targeted Rhetoric" (Denise D. Brown); "Key Concepts in FL Literacy:…

This instructor's guide contains materials for a 40-hour course that explores interpersonal communication and improves participants' ability to communicate with fellow workers and family members. A title page provides a course description with target audience and general objective. An introduction covers design of the 10-week course, with 2 2-hour…

Designed for continued language learning beyond the intermediate level, this workbook provides practice and sets of exercises for improving speaking and listening skills in Bulgarian through class participation and discussion, and reading and writing. The book includes grammar explanations, news reports, brief biographies of prominent Bulgarians,…

The role of item response theory (IRT) in determining the validity of second language tests is examined in the case of one specific test, the listening subtest of the Occupational English Test (OET), used in Australia to measure the language skills of non-native English-speaking health professionals. First, the listening subtest is described. Then…

The role of personal narrative in multicultural education is examined. First, the relationship between student voice, storytelling, and the transmission of culture is discussed in the context of recent literature on those topics. The concept of voice describes the process of expressing oneself meaningfully through utterances and actions according…