This report was designed to respond to two major methodological shortcomings in the item bias literature: (1) misfitting test models; and (2) the use of significance tests. Specifically, the goals of the research were to describe a newly developed method known as the "plot method" for identifying potentially biased test items and to…

A collection of papers of directions in second language education includes: "The Improvement of Foreign Language Competency in the United States" (Richard D. Lambert); "The Measurement of Foreign/Second Language Proficiency" (Lyle F. Bachman, John D. Clark); "Advanced Technology in Foreign Language Instruction and Translation" (John Fought);…

Fourth, seventh, and ninth grade students in Elementary Secondary Education Act (ESEA) Title I programs were tested with the reading comprehension subtests of the Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills, at each of two levels: on-level for each respective grade, and an easier out-of-level form. Approximately half of these students were found to be…

The reading portion of the Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP) was equated to the reading comprehension subtest of the Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills (CTBS) using the Rasch Model. Both tests were administered to 366 low achieving fourth grade students. MEAP was treated as both a 95-item test and a 19-item (number of objectives…

A study investigated influences on attrition in Japanese second language instruction in one U.S. university. Subjects were students enrolled in the fall semester of beginning (n=134 students) and intermediate (n=79) levels of Japanese courses. In the fifth week of classes, students were administered a series of questionnaires to gather data on…

The six issues of this newsletter for teachers and tutors of adult English as a second language (ESL) contain articles on classroom teaching techniques and activities, including dictations, presentations, hints for teaching beginners, multi-level crossword puzzles, conversation activities, reading exercises, guessing and describing games, use of…

A bilingual (Japanese/English) electronic mail survey of over 1,100 computer science students at the University of Aizu elicited recommendations for content and design of a curriculum in English for Special Purposes (ESP). Features students preferred included these: a four-skills introductory course during the first year; materials encouraging…

Criteria for the selection of judges (evaluators) for setting item-based standards involved in tests for which cutting scores must be established are investigated. Focus is on cases in which test standards are based on specialists' judgments concerning the difficulty of test items in tests used to determine who will be awarded a diploma, admitted…

A bibliography of brief annotations of instructional materials for the Russian language includes 93 documents from the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC), the National Technical Information Service (NTIS), and the Joint Publications Research Service (JPRS), that do not go out of print and are widely available in depository systems.…

In an effort to determine the causes of student attrition, a study was conducted at American River College (ARC) in December 1979, involving: (1) a survey of 1,174 students who had dropped at least one class while at ARC, and (2) a categorization of the reasons for college withdrawal indicated by 591 students on ARC's standardized withdrawal form.…

These proceedings contain the papers of the IADIS International Conference on Cognition and Exploratory Learning in the Digital Age (CELDA 2013), October 22-24, 2013, which has been organized by the International Association for Development of the Information Society (IADIS), co-organized by The University of North Texas (UNT), sponsored by the…

These proceedings contain the papers of the International Conference e-Learning 2014, which was organised by the International Association for Development of the Information Society and is part of the Multi Conference on Computer Science and Information Systems (Lisbon, Portugal July 15-19, 2014). The e-Learning 2014 conference aims to address the…

The guide describes North Carolina's standard course of study in modern languages for grades K-12 and corresponding instructional guidelines. The first part is organized in six chapters: purpose, overview, and rationale for the standard course of study; intended program outcomes; the interrelationship of proficiency, grammar, vocabulary, and…

Papers presented at the City University of New York's English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) Council conference on maximizing the chances for success of limited-English-proficient college students include the following: "Thresholds, Alienation, and Syntax" (Geoffrey Summerfield); "Storytelling: Starting with the Familiar" (A. Duku…

The Utah state foreign language mastery curriculum is outlined in the form of specific behavioral objectives for listening, thinking, speaking, reading, and writing skills, accuracy, and cultural awareness at four levels (novice, intermediate, advanced, and superior). The curriculum represents a change in overall emphasis from grammar to speaking…