Discusses the use of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages Oral Proficiency Interview for assessing the effect of study abroad on foreign language learning, and provides a detailed account of the use of the Portuguese Speaking Test as a means of assessing participants of a summer program in Brazil. (15 references) (JL)

Discusses the need for language-specific versions of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) guidelines, including speaking tests based on the simulated oral proficiency interview; listening/reading comprehension tests with items linked to the ACTFL guidelines and Interagency Language Roundtable skill level descriptions;…

Compared American English and Mandarin Chinese speakers' oral descriptions of a film that had sound but no dialogue. Results revealed that Chinese speakers provided at least as much chronological detail as and more social and moral interpretations than English speakers, although the English speakers offered more personal comments. (21 references)…

Describes five games for learning Chinese at the elementary and intermediate levels, focusing on the development of such skills as listening, reading, and speaking. The brief descriptions specify group size and necessary equipment. (CB)

In an activity for the French classroom, teams of four student pairs read and summarize newspaper and magazine articles, extract a vocabulary list, prepare content questions, and become experts on portions of the text for a small-group discussion game. Changing partners and solo presentation are important features of the exercise. (MSE)

Discusses the place of nonstandard language in the English curriculum. Summarizes one speech instructor's attempt to locate a connection between black English and middle class white suburban language patterns. Shows how speech teachers can help students become aware of their own speech patterns. (HB)

The place of literature in the foreign language classroom is described, and the effectiveness of the short story is noted. Suggestions are offered regarding selection criteria, classroom activities, oral activities, role play, oral comprehension, and a variety of written exercises including sequencing and writing dialog. (Contains seven…

Examines what opportunities test takers have to display their knowledge of managing conversations in the second language in two types of tasks: nonscripted interviews and guided role-play activities. Data consists of 30 interviews and 30 role-play activities between near-native examiners and intermediate learners used in language exams in Hungary.…

Six children were studied from the age of 6 months to 1 year and 6 months to chart their developing comprehension vocabularies from the first to the 100th word. Observational data were used in the first instance to identify newly comprehended words and then controlled testing was carried out for each word to confirm and expand the observational…

A study of the nonparticipation of 302 non-English-speaking students in higher education in New Zealand identified the following reasons: shyness, sensitivity, and problems with the language of others as well as those related to vocabulary, pronunciation, grammar, and general expression and organization. Ways to address attitudinal problems were…

Compares apology speech acts of ten advanced Korean learners of English to those of 10 English native speakers and discusses similarities and differences observed between these two groups in their apology-use strategies. Data were collected by means of oral role plays.(Author/VWL)

Analyzes conventional ways of teaching writing in English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) classes. Current theories on teaching writing are reviewed and practical writing activities and tasks applicable to the EFL classroom are presented. (Author/VWL)

Discusses a course and accompanying test for teaching spoken English in India. (Author/VWL)

A communicative-competence orientation was undertaken to study the validity of test-score inferences derived from the revised Test of Spoken English (TSE). To implement the approach, a sample of undergraduate students, primarily native-English speakers, provided reactions to the test responses of a sample of TSE examinees. (Author/VWL)

Assessed the amount of linguistic information needed by 2-year-old infants to recognize whether or not a sentence belongs to their native language. A cross-linguistic study of French and American 2-month-old infants was conducted, measuring the latency of the first ocular saccade toward a loudspeaker playing short French and English utterances.…