A study is described which investigated the differences between English-as-a-second-language (ESL) writers and native-English-speaking writers and examined closely a range of ESL writers and their composing processes. The procedures used were those used by Sondra Perl in a study of the composing processes of unskilled college writers (1979).…

A collection of essays on current issues in the field of second language proficiency assessment includes: "The Unassimilated History" (Pardee Lowe, Jr.), which chronicles the development of proficiency testing; "A Research Agenda" (John L. D. Clark and John Lett), a discussion of research considerations and needs in proficiency testing; "Issues…

The situation card used in the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages/Educational Testing Service (ACTFL/ETS) Oral Proficiency Interview provides a kind of linguistic-topographical map of the student's foreign language ability by measuring what the student of business Spanish is able or unable to do in business situations in that…

A study investigated the relationship between writing proficiency and two aspects of proofreading: (1) the ability to detect structural errors, and (2) the ability to accurately correct them. During the fall of 1986 seventeen English-as-a-Second-Language students in the intermediate-level grammar review and paragraph writing class at Biola…

Discussions about the value of language-across-the-curriculum policy are often clouded by confusion over two different underlying principles or motives for its implementation: that it stimulates and enhances learning and that it consolidates the teaching and learning of writing in a variety of subject contents. In practice, it is the second…

This booklet contains guidelines to assist school districts in developing programs that meet the requirements of the New York State Bureau of Bilingual Education. The guidelines are presented in six parts: (1) an explanation of part 154 of the regulations, the purpose of which is to establish standards for the use of funds made available by the…

The following papers are included in this volume dealing with issues and research in language assessment: (1) "Sociolinguistic Foundations of Language Assessment," by J. L. Ornstein-Galicia; (2) "Language Proficiency Assessment: Research Findings and Their Application," by C. Rivera and C. Simich; (3) "The Role of Grammar…

The question has been raised whether various measures of language proficiency that concentrate on different aspects of language are equivalent. Studies have been conducted by various agencies comparing language proficiency assessment instruments. Of interest here are the BINL, LAS, and BSM tests. Because each test has a different set of criteria…

There exists a need to explore issues regarding entry/exit level criteria and assessment practices in bilingual teacher training programs. Among the few studies on this topic, one is summarized here. Relevant data are analyzed and summarized and models for assessment are presented. A survey of 127 items was mailed to 93 randomly selected teacher…

Materials are presented from a workshop designed to provide an opportunity for bilingual education researchers and practitioners to share knowledge, experiences, and concerns related to assessing language proficiency. The sessions included: (1) "Formal and Informal Evaluation of Oral English Language Skills," by William Russell; (2) "Assessing…

This teacher's edition of training materials on bilingual program planning, implementation, and evaluation focuses on testing instruments. The guide is part of a series directed at bilingual educators and intended for use in institutions of higher education and inservice teacher education programs. Training objectives, a pretest and posttest, and…

A study of the French language learning progress of immigrants to Quebec had four objectives: (1) to identify the functional level of oral French of two groups of immigrants after language training at one of the province's immigrant orientation centers; (2) to verify whether after a six month period of employment the language proficiency level has…

A symposium focusing on problems in the assessment of foreign or second language learning brought seven applied linguists together to discuss three areas of debate: communicative language testing, testing of English for specific purposes, and general language proficiency assessment. In each of these areas, the participants reviewed selected papers…

The horrific events of 11 September 2001, when four hijacked jetliners crashed into and collapsed the twin-towered World Trade Center in New York, slammed into the Pentagon, and nose-dived into a field in rural Pennsylvania (ostensibly on a mission to destroy the U.S. Capitol or the White House), have been indelibly etched into the nation's…

In discussion of assessment and its applicability to the needs of the Spanish-speaking student population, four types of assessments are presented in the context of the educationally significant testing needed in this area. The focus of this paper is on the use of comprehensive assessment to measure the repertoire of language resources that the…