Part 1 of this document describes the background, format, and early groundwork that went into the development of a test sponsored entirely by private enterprise. The discipline imposed by a financial bottom line imposes special pressures but also offers new opportunities. This private enterprise model is a multi-constructional process where…

This report states that since July 1995, the State of Florida has required each public college and university to obtain scores on one of the following test batteries for degree-seeking students prior to registration: Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT), American College Testing (ACT), or the Florida College Entry-Level Placement Test (CPT). A…

A study investigated whether teaching techniques and the use of self-evaluation tended to increase student motivation and second language proficiency. Subjects were 59 high school Honors Spanish 4 students with varying levels of academic ability, motivation, and proficiency, and included both non-native and English-dominant Spanish speakers. The…

Ways in which the field of applied linguistics is evolving in the changing global context are examined. After a brief review of the field's history in the late twentieth century, and of the development of a number of related professional organizations, the emergence of applied linguistics as an interdisciplinary endeavor is discussed. Major areas…

A study investigated the effects of question type (multiple-choice, wh-questions, and cloze items) and question preview on assessment of English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) listening comprehension. Subjects were 90 freshmen at a Chinese university, randomly assigned to two groups. One was administered a question preview before listening to a…

Discusses the results of a study designed to investigate the effects of five different program models on both acquisition and maintenance of Spanish by native Spanish-speaking kindergarten children. (Author/CFM)

Various socio-environmental influences (social class, preschool education, and home environment) on the development of receptive language in preschool children were investigated. Only middle class children benefitted significantly from nursery school experience. (BW)

A study was conducted to determine the effect of different techniques used in teaching English as a second language to children in bilingual elementary schools. (CFM)

Investigates, within the context of the question-answer framework of a foreign language oral proficiency test, the interactive nature of spoken discourse between Canadian students and assessors when there is trouble in talk as perceived by the assessors, with a focus on how they accommodate to the students. The study has implications for rater…

Presents the results of a study of the reliability of teacher assessment of the oral examination at General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) for Modern Languages. Teachers' opinions of different types of marking criteria were collected through semistructured interviews after each teacher had assessed a tape-recorded free conversation task…

A set of functional-analytic materials, entailing the study and practice of sociostylistic variation, was implemented in three eighth-grade French immersion (FI) classrooms by their respective teachers during French language arts classes over a five-week period. Pre- and posttests indicate that functional-analytic teaching improved FI students'…

A study was conducted to identify appropriate standardized tests of English second-language proficiency among foreign high school students after a three-month stay, for use in a battery of tests to determine achievement gains. Identification of three potential tests and further considerations in selecting the appropriate test are reported here.…

Intended as a practical reference for teachers and curriculum developers, the guide reviews options in student evaluation and considers the relevance of these for monitoring student learning in the context of a multidimensional curriculum for core French programs. Three categories of evaluation methods are examined: language tests; observation and…

Analysis of the use of a cloze-procedure test to measure the English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) proficiency of Japanese college students revealed that the cloze test correlated significantly with an essay test and improved prediction of ESL proficiency, suggesting that carefully constructed cloze tests could be useful in integrative language…

Examined the foreign-language-learning abilities of 14- to 15-year olds in Britain, Germany, and Greece. Comparison of results from tests of students' foreign vocabulary knowledge indicated that British students had only one-third to one-half of the foreign language vocabulary knowledge of Greek and German students. They also spent less time…