Papers in this journal issue concern various aspects of foreign language syllabus construction. Titles and authors are: "The Threshold Level: A Notional-Functional Syllabus" (Barbara F. Matthies); "Functions of Grammar in a Language Teaching Syllabus" (William E. Rutherford); "Communicative and Grammatical Syllabuses to…

While much has been done in the application of communicative principles to second language instruction, their application to language testing has been less fruitful. Experience with language testing projects in England and other countries suggests that communicative language test design should be based on the following issues and considerations:…

A project to develop and validate a tape-based alternative to the interview-based speaking proficiency test is described. The objective was to produce an economically more viable test for less commonly taught languages, closely modeled on and readily interpretable in terms of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages/Interagency…

A computerized testing system was installed on an experimental basis at the Basic Electricity and Electronics School of the Naval Training Center in San Diego. The system consisted of a network of IBM Personal Computers running a slightly modified version of the commercially available MicroCAT Testing System. It was configured to fit transparently…

This report states the issues involved in the use of communicative tests, oral and written, to assess grammatical correctness among students of English as a Foreign Language (EFL). Experience with two English tests administered at the beginning and end of the practice teaching period of Dutch students training to become EFL teachers indicates…

A history of the Test of Written English (TWE), a section of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), describes its inception and development process. The new test is a thirty-minute essay test providing a measure of a non-native English-speaker's ability to perform academic writing tasks similar to those required of international…

The problem of determining optimal test lengths with fixed total testing time has proved to be a difficult one for criterion-referenced test developers. An algorithm is needed which can be used by test developers to allocate available testing time to maximize the validity of their total criterion-referenced tests or testing programs. To be…

This report presents the results of a four-year effort to develop a valid and reliable inservice needs assessment instrument. (The instrument was designed to identify competencies that should be the focus of inservice training for vocational educators who teach or provide services to special needs learners.) Chapter I is an introduction. Chapter…

The feasibility of a self-scoring flexilevel test was investigated in terms of practical effectiveness and criterion related validity. The test was administered to over 2,000 students studying secondary school mathematics in Thailand. The study was conducted, and the test administered, in two phases: test development and evaluation. The test was…

This paper describes the development of the Basic Educational Skills Test (BEST) in the Austin Independent School District. In 1982 future options for the AISD minimum competency program, which requires all students to meet minimum proficiency levels in reading and mathematics before graduation, were evaluated against legal and local criteria. It…

Seven formats of educational testing were compared for student test preferences and how well each evaluated learning. The formats were: (1) true/false; (2) multiple choice; (3) matching; (4) MDT Multiple Digit Testing, in which a machine scores fill-in-the-blanks; (5) fill-in-the-blanks; (6) short answers; and (7) essay. A total of 1,440 survey…

The paper describes the development of the "Test of Thought and Language" (Total) which is intended to allow first grade teachers to determine if students are ready for phonics instruction or if, for some students, the curriculum should first develop language concepts, structures and thinking processes. Background information for the…

Suggestions on how to enhance college teaching are provided. Lecturing is stressed as a critical component of teaching, and each lecture's introduction, main body, and conclusion must be correlated prior to any given lecture. Information on how to compose and give a lecture includes: what to put in an introduction; what can be done to help the…

An instrument was developed to assess principal leadership. Two studies were then conducted to assess the reliability, validity, and utility of the instrument. Leadership style is the relative intensity of the presence of four modes of authority (traditional, charismatic, legal, and expert authority) and four modes of power (moral, psychological,…

Beginning with the 1985-86 school year, the Texas Educational Assessment of Minimum Skills (TEAMS) tests have been based on the objectives provided in this publication for teachers and test development specialists. Reading skills objectives for grade 7 include the ability to: (1) identify the main idea; (2) use context to understand the meaning of…