Describes an exercise that familiarizes students with the language of German weather reports, so that they will know what kinds of information to listen for. The exercise also helps students expand their vocabulary. The article includes transcriptions of actual German weather reports. (SED)

Presents the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages' provisional generic descriptions for nine levels (novice-low, novice-mid, novice-high, advanced, advanced plus, and superior) in the following areas: (1) speaking, (2) listening, (3) reading, (4) writing, and for six levels in culture. (SED)

In order to determine how use of responsive listener cues (e.g. head nods, yesses, smiles, etc.) changes over preschool years, children were videorecorded as they listened to an adult speaker talk about his experiences. Age and sex differences in preschoolers' responsive behaviors are discussed as well as the relationship between the development…

Conducted experiment to determine how the presence of sandhi-variation, a common characteristic of spoken English that reduces the perceptual saliency of many of its features, affects the comprehensibility of English unit. Results indicated that sandhi-variation is an important input-intake filter for English learners but not for those whose…

Considers the nature of receptive language proficiency, the nature of performance on language tests, and possible improvements in receptive language testing. Emphasizes how testing of reading comprehension and testing of listening comprehension raise similar concerns which should be addressed in the design of receptive language tests. (SED)

Responds to Michael Canale's paper, "Considerations in the Testing of Reading and Listening Proficiency." Approaches Canale's three points of discussion from a textual point of view. Discusses the kinds of language materials likely to be encountered in texts at selected proficiency levels and how this material may be tested. (SED)

Hesitation serves many purposes, allowing us to choose and combine words better, make discourse more cohesive and regulate its flow, and think. Frequency and length varies with the cognitive activity, but is not always easy to interpret. Foreign language instruction can help students interpret hesitations and use them to advantage. (MSE)

Stresses that learning to understand and speak a foreign language is the acquisition of a skill, not of a system of abstract knowledge. Primary objective is understanding through a receptive, semantic approach, which incorporates rising expectancy level, discrepency feedback levels, and confidence in later speech production. Suggests incorporating…

It is asserted that the teacher and learner of a foreign language must learn to direct his attention to the auditory phenomena of the new language. Several auditory exercises in which some of the basic parameters of speech are involved--number, order, duration, pitch, vowel quality--are described. (RM)

Rather than learning just a series of responses to drills, a student can learn "real" French by using L2-L2 (second language) precis work in the language laboratory. The student listens to a previously unheard text and then reproduces it in a shortened form. (CFM)

The Humboldt-Dienst functions as a teaching aid. Some eight times a year it tapes collections of foreign-language information broadcasts, and issues student work sheets and teachers' guides for use therewith. The materials are available at cost; an address for ordering is given. (Text is in German.) (IFS/WGA)

Report on an advanced listening comprehension exercise series for independent study developed at the Goethe Institut at Iserlohn, West Germany. (RS)

Discusses oral reports as a vehicle for language instruction; individualization'' is a function of subject area and report length. (DD)