Discusses the practice of paired testing of oral languages, noting the lack of published research evidence and of results from the monitoring of these tests to support their introduction into wider use. Questions whether paired testing is more effective than, and a valid alternative to, the more traditional candidate/examiner model. (SM)

Examined past-tense inflection of verbs in Norwegian. Data from specifically language-impaired children, normally developing children, and adults were studied by a test constructed to find how input factors such as type and token of frequency and phonological acquisition influence acquisition of past-tense inflection. The goal was to learn whether…

Investigates in the refugee/immigrant population in the open-admissions college at the University of Minnesota, the relationship between educational background in the native language and second language, English language proficiency as measured by a standardized language-proficiency test, length of residency in the United States, and academic…

Outlines some of the problem areas described by researchers when designing a test of oral production for beginning-level speakers of English, and suggests ways in which these areas may be addressed. (Author/VWL)

Examines the importance of parental support for early immersion in the context of a study of Irish-medium preschools. Data were collected from all participants in this early-immersion model, including parents, classroom assistants, and inspectors, in addition to detailed tests of 225 3-year-old children. (Author/VWL)

Reflects on the configuration of methods--personal language-learning history, journals, video observations, interviews, and pre/post-language proficiency tests--used to explore the experiences of 23 French second-language learners as they worked independently with an interactive-video program. (Author/VWL)

This study focuses on changes in listener ability to identify a language after brief periods of exposure. Specifically, it looks at whether minimal exposure to spoken samples of a language improve identification of novel samples and in what ways exposure materials affect listener performance. (Author/JL)

Examined how Hebrew-speaking children acquired Hebrew-derived nominals (HDNs) of two types (action nominals and deverbal nouns). Child and adult native Hebrew speakers were tested on comprehension and production of HDNs. Acquisition of HDNs began at age 8 and was not complete by age 15. Task type, binyan patterns, and morphological regularity all…

Argues that there are many problems attendant to the testing of second language inferencing. Two reading tests, one culturally familiar and the other culturally unfamiliar were administered to secondary school students who are not native speakers of English. Four categories of inferences were tested in four different situations. Results showed…

Describes a working model used to determine the target language use in a language for specific purpose test project: the Listening Summary Translation Exam in Taiwanese (LSTE/T). The purpose of the LSTE/T was to evaluate the summary translation ability of applicants who want to work as linguists in law enforcement agencies in the United States.…

Examined the output produced by 46 university students of Spanish at the intermediate level during focused or unfocused communication tasks that required the use of command forms in Spanish. Also examined whether the learners who experienced the focused communication tasks would maintain linguistic accuracy during an unfocused communication task…

Discusses the Graded Objectives for Adults Learning (GOLF) Russian program. The aim of the GOLF program is to have four levels, with Level Four being considered equivalent to a good GCSE pass, at which stage students will have a good working knowledge of the language and a wide vocabulary. (CK)

Reports on a project to develop and validate a criterion-referenced performance test of listening summary translation ability. This exam is designed to assess ability to comprehend and summarize in written English recorded conversations spoken in Spanish. The Bachman framework is used to present the test and provide evidence for its validity. (12…

Presents a study of methodological validation in speech act research. Discourse-Completion tests (DCTs) and multiple-choice questionnaires (MCQs) designed to elicit requests were administered to two groups of Japanese female undergraduates. Significant differences were found in most situations, with those students completing the MCQ choosing to…

This article proposes a new type of pronunciation test, based on the variability principle and language continuum paradigm developed by Tarone (1983, 1985). Trials with 80 elementary and 73 university students indicate that the test distinguishes between subjects with and without phonetic training and is generally reliable and valid. Contains 31…