This is a report on a project established to develop a "common yardstick" to describe performance in one or more language skills. Descriptive scales for oral interaction were prepared as well as a general outline of scale characteristics for listening comprehension and reading. Experts in the field reviewed the project proposal and recommendations…

This evaluative and developmental study was undertaken between 1972-74 to determine the effectiveness of items used for the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) in relationship to other item types used in assessing English proficiency, and to recommend possible changes in TOEFL content and format. TOEFL was developed to assess the English…

Techniques for assessing test validity and reliability are applied to an analysis of an unpublished test, in order to familiarize test users in local bilingual programs with the technical evidence that should be available for instruments of potential use in placing limited English-speaking students. The instrument studied, the Language Assignment…

Hunt and O'Donnell's Aluminum Paragraph was administered to sixty Canadian college students enrolled in English as a Second Language (ESL) courses. The students were asked to re-write and to improve a paragraph consisting of 32 short, single-clause sentences. The students were identified as low intermediate, high intermediate, and advanced in…

Two tests were administered to 87 students at the third through fifth levels of English as a second language (with emphasis on scientific education) at the Center for the Teaching of Foreign Languages of the Autonomous Metropolitan University. Test I consisted of 25 multiple choice and true/false reading comprehension questions based on a…

THE WEST VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION PREPARED THIS CURRICULUM GUIDE FOR TEACHING FRENCH AND SPANISH WITH AN AUDIOLINGUAL APPROACH. A SECTION OUTLINING METHODS AND STRUCTURES FROM LEVEL THREE TO LEVEL SIX SHOWS HOW A LONGER SEQUENCE OF LANGUAGE STUDY CAN BE CONSTRUCTED. OTHER TOPICS DETAILED ARE CLASS GROUPING BASED ON ABILITY, AUDIOVISUAL…

THE AUTHOR POINTS OUT PROBLEMS IN TEST RESEARCH AND INTERPRETATION, SOME OF WHICH ARE DUE TO CONFLICTS BETWEEN THE FINDINGS OF THE DATA ANALYST WHO IS RESTRICTED TO BASING HIS DECISIONS ON SELECTED DATA ONLY, AND THE TEST INTERPRETER WHO IS AWARE OF VARIABLE VALIDITIES OF SUCH UNTESTED FACTORS AS SITUATIONAL ANXIETY, PERSONALITY, MOTHER-TONGUE…

Questions are addressed pertaining to the Language Assessment Battery (LAB), currently the only single battery that meets all of the state of Connecticut criteria for an instrument to determine which pupils must be offered bilingual education. Normed on an English dominant population, the primary purpose was to obtain its psychometric…

A resource kit is presented for the teaching of listening comprehension and colloquial usage in French at the advanced secondary level. The kit is represented by a teacher's guide, a student handbook entitled "Idees et personalites," and a set of transcripts of taped interviews. In the interviews, two young French Canadians discuss their…

A resource kit for the teaching of listening comprehension in French at the intermediate secondary level is represented by a teacher's guide. The module is designed to develop language awareness through the presentation and discussion of basic language concepts and contrastive language study. Language variation and cognates are among the topics…

A resource kit for teaching French in a French-Canadian cultural context is represented by a teacher's guide, a student resource booklet, and a tape transcript. This module is designed for use at the intermediate or advanced level of secondary instruction. Classroom activities are based on a cassette tape that introduces some of the phonological…

Two tests of oral English ability are described and presented: (1) the Oral Placement Test, and (2) the Oral Production Test, which contains three forms for three levels. The tests may be used for placement or diagnosis. Each student is tested individually; the placement test takes five minutes, and each achievement test takes less than ten…

The third of four documents reviews research on assessment in three domains (receptive language skills, expressive language skills, and perceptual and cognitive processes) as the most likely to predict subsequent language development of young children who have yet to speak their first word. Section II focuses on assessment of hearing sensitivity…

FIFTY DISADVANTAGED CHILDREN, RANGING IN AGE FROM 33 TO 56 MONTHS, PARTICIPATED IN A 7-MONTH PRESCHOOL EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM DESIGNED TO IMPROVE THEIR LANGUAGE AND SOCIAL SKILLS. THE ILLINOIS TEST OF PSYCHOLINGUISTIC ABILITIES, THE PEABODY PICTURE VOCABULARY TEST (FORM A), AND THE VANCE LANGUAGE SKILLS TEST MEASURED THE CHILDREN'S DEVELOPMENT IN…

A directory of over 20 foreign language courses lists classes alphabetically by student language and target language. The course information refers directly to the questionnaire, duplicated at the beginning of the directory, which covers general information, course availability, area of use, principles and goals, organization, tests, auditory…