A study compared the influence of two forms of discourse completion test (DCT) on the elicitation of rejection of advice. An open questionnaire providing scenarios alone was compared with a classic dialogue completion task in which a conversational turn is provided. The tasks were given to 32 graduate students, 19 native and 13 non-native…

The concept of "washback," especially prominent in the field of applied linguistics, refers to the extent to which a test influences teachers and learners to do things they would not otherwise necessarily do. Some writers invoke the notion of washback validity, holding that a test's validity should be gauged by the degree to which it has…

The Arabic language examination was designed for Jewish immigrants from Syria wishing to satisfy New York State language requirements for high school graduation by indicating their proficiency in Arabic. The test is essentially a translation of a state test of Hebrew, and is intended to test Arabic at the third-year high school level. The…

A nationwide survey of English language institutes in Indonesia is presented. The purpose of the survey was to assist government agencies, ministries, embassies, and donor agencies in matching their trainees' needs with suitable language training programs. Information is included on 38 language institutes throughout the archipelago. The survey…

In 1989, the Southern Conference on Language Teaching (SCOLT) celebrated its silver anniversary at a conference designed to provide participants with an opportunity both to reflect on the past and to look at the future of foreign language teaching and of SCOLT in the light of a quarter century of experience. Seven of the papers in this volume were…

A study investigated the comparability of second language (L2) listening comprehension tests by examining the effects of varying text type and assessment task on student performance. Student target language experience was an additional variable considered. Subjects were 107 beginning and 64 advanced-intermediate college-level Spanish second…

This paper synthesizes ideas from the fields of graphical modeling and education testing, particularly item response theory (IRT) applied to computerized adaptive testing (CAT). Graphical modeling can offer IRT a language for describing multifaceted skills and knowledge, and disentangling evidence from complex performances. IRT-CAT can offer…

This guide is designed for student advisors in the United States who are counseling students preparing for a period of study in a fully integrated higher education program in the Federal Republic of Germany. Topics covered include: (1) an overview of the higher educational system in the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG); (2) organization of FRG…

The guide provides information on 28 public foreign language examinations offered by 14 organizations in the United Kingdom. The information is intended for use in selecting examinations for certifying language skills for employment purposes. Each listing notes the language exams offered, the aims of the test, levels of difficulty, intended age…

Reports from Graded Objectives in Modern Languages (GOML) groups throughout Great Britain are included in this annual newsletter on second language learning. It also contains two special reports: (1) report of the 9th annual GOML in-service training course in "Graded Objectives in Modern Languages: Taking Stock" (draft proposals),…

It is proposed that in the teaching and testing of Chinese as a foreign language (CFL), emphasis should be placed on features that are universal to all languages rather than particular to Chinese. Shared properties of Chinese and other languages, particularly English, are illustrated through examination of three major language components:…

This project extended the application of a model for development of semi-direct tests of oral proficiency, originally developed for Chinese, to a diverse set of less commonly taught languages spanning various language families and representing diverse cultural backgrounds. This second, final report covers development of tests for Hebrew, Hausa,…

This study investigated the type of language impairments found and the degree to which these impairments were being identified in a learning-disabled population in a middle school suburban setting, by use of the Fullerton Language Test for Adolescents, Revised. Subjects were categorized as language learning impaired (N=8 and mean age of 13 years)…

The Victorian (Australia) assessment approach of developing national subject profiles has potential for language assessment. Within each language area, levels of development would be identified and defined by observable language behavior, which could then be tested by a variety of test types. Assessment would be done by teachers in schools using…

An adaptation of the Foreign Service Institute's (FSI) oral interview test for oral language proficiency developed for use at the American Institute of Musical Studies' (AIMS) summer vocal institute in Austria to determine students' improvement in German language is discussed. The reasons for its selection over other major comparable tests are…