A large-scale test development project at the Language Teaching Research Center of the University of Gothenburg aims to develop tests in English as a foreign language for use in various areas of business and public administration. After testing, certificates stating current proficiency level in each of the four language skills (listening, reading,…

This bibliography contains references to materials relating to language learning and development in the young child, specifically, speaking and understanding language. Receptive, communicative and expressive language as well as particular facets of language imitation and production are topics included. Reference materials are listed in four major…

The present paper reports on a study conducted in 1973, designed to measure the English competence and performance of bilingual fourth graders in selected schools in southern Arizona and the extent to which the first language (Spanish) interfered with the second (English). The study also attempted to determine which patterns might yet be unlearned…

The Illinois Test of Psycholinguistic Abilities (ITPA) is a psychodiagnostic instrument devised to assess theoretically discrete and basic cognitive skills. In its genesis the ITPA, comprising nine subtests, was designed to provide independent estimates of a child's level of functioning in each of the nine abilities theoretically addressed. Factor…

In Quebec, English is taught as a second language to four groups of people: French-speaking Canadians; immigrants; Indians and Eskimos; and foreign students. The first group, in contrast to the others, is not integratively or instrumentlly motivated. They are not submitting to anglicization in North America nor are they being required to know…

The English Oral Language Lessons were developed by the Foreign Language Innovative Curricula Studies (FLICS) of the University of Michigan. The lessons were designed for pre-school children of Mexican American migrant workers with an emphasis on the structure of English sentences rather than on vocabulary. The study was constructed to test the…

This concise report, one of a series, focuses attention on the topic of correlation of work in the foreign language class with drill in the language laboratory. Viewing the attitude of the language teacher as the critical factor in this problem, the author presents fundamental material on: (1) selection of appropriate materials, (2) the use of…

The primary objective of the Regional English Language Center (RELC) is the improvement of standards of teaching and learning English as a second or foreign language in the countries of Southeast Asia: Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. This report on the RELC seminar on English language testing contains the…

Test development efforts for constructing 12 items to measure achievement of each of 30 selected language arts concepts are described. Item and total score statistics for data collected on 186 boys and 259 girls who had just begun the sixth grade are presented and discussed. (Author)

The distribution of errors in children's responses in four elicitation tests of their color-naming abilities is explored with a view to clarifying states of ignorance. Subjects include 47 Polynesian children ranging in age from 2 to 12 years. The four experiments include a naming task, two identification tasks and a mapping task. Children are…

Analyzes in detail some of the incorrect responses made by subjects (culturally disadvantaged Israeli children) performing on cloze tests and suggests what may be inferred about the cognitive processing employed by the subjects that leads them to make such responses. Results indicate the need for further detailed linguistic analysis of responses…

Advises the secondary school teacher lacking special training how to use the ACFL Guidelines to test for oral proficiency in the classroom. Sample situation cards and a sample grading sheet are included. (LMO)

Dutch native children and Turkish immigrant children, born and reared in the Netherlands, were asked to tell a story from a series of pictures, at age six and again at age eight. The Turkish children exhibited about the same level of narrative proficiency in Dutch as their Dutch peers. (Author/LMO)

Suggests that the use in English language teaching of visual media is based on insufficient analysis of the properties of visual formats, the skills demanded in using them, and the existing literacy of the students. The design and implementation of the appended Visual Information Test are described. (Author/SED)

Describes a one-semester conversational language course based on specific proficiency goals. The oral proficiency pre- and posttests, goal contracts outlining performance objectives for each chapter of the text, specific instructional and grading techniques, and class activities are detailed. (MSE)