This report suggests that language study combined with the broad-based study of the history, politics, and culture of other countries, as well as existing international business courses, are essential for first-class preparation of a business person who will operate internationally. The report discusses how to sharpen the focus of internalization…

The oral interaction hypothesis, proposed by Long and investigated by Pica, in second language (L2) acquisition is critiqued. The interaction hypothesis advances two major claims about the role of interaction in L2 acquisition: (1) comprehensible input is necessary for L2 acquisition; and (2) modifications to the interactional structure of…

Eighty Utah companies currently hiring Indochinese refugees and 73 identified simply as "general employers" took part in a study of employers' reactions to Indochinese refugees as job applicants and as employees. The study used questionnaires and oral interviews directed at personnel managers and supervisors and some language proficiency…

Persian language instructors at U.S. universities were surveyed regarding (1) their methods for measuring Persian language proficiency among American undergraduate students, (2) research verifying the validity and reliability of these methods, and (3) their definitions of Persian language proficiency. A 12-item questionnaire was completed by 17…

The use of observation of natural language interaction as a measure of language proficiency and the impact of discourse characteristics on children's use of Spanish and English as measured by length of utterances are examined. The goal of this observational approach to measuring language proficiency is to distinguish between the effects of change…

Educators insure that black students will never learn to write as well as they can by convincing them of the myth that, as a people, the strength of blacks lies in oral communication. (EH)

This column examines the Cambridge English Examinations and the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). The changes made to these tests are discussed. (SW)

Presents among other things the didactic-methodological procedure in Teaching Units 3 and 4, Grade 10; the development of (predominantly monologue) speaking proficiency and proper translation into the foreign language, with special attention to measures to be taken immediately before and after watching the television program. (Text is in German.)…

The TOEFL was taken by 159 non-native speakers of English in Tehran, Iran, who also took a cloze test and two dictations. Results revealed that Listening Comprehension, cloze and dictation were more highly correlated with each other, and with the remaining parts of the TOEFL, than the latter were with each other. (Author/KM)

Examines the differences in, and difficulties and advantages attending programs available in France to foreign students. Problems of language preparation, limitations in courses of study, living arrangements, and administrative practices are considered. (MSE)

The simulated oral proficiency interview (SOPI) is a semi-direct speaking test that models the format of the oral proficiency interview (OPI). The OPI is a method of assessing general speaking proficiency in a second language. The SOPI is a tape-recorded test consisting of six parts: simple personal background questions posed in a simulated…

This collection of five essays and supporting material concerning foreign language proficiency makes specific and controversial statements about what proficiency means for diverse groups of practitioners: the classroom teacher, the curriculum developer, the language-learning researcher, the textbook publisher, and the businessperson. An…

American incompetence in second language skills can be remedied by training academically gifted children as true bilinguals in languages widely used and badly needed for business and political interactions in an increasingly interdependent world. Those identified as gifted, who also exhibit the characteristics of successful second language…

It seems possible to evaluate language proficiency as behavioral ability by: (1) observing authentic language behavior, (2) examining the tacit knowledge that underlies language behavior or testing specific tasks based on capabilities that are linked to implicit knowledge of a language, and (3) testing the acquired explicit knowledge, such as use…

Current research is reviewed for implications for language proficiency assessment practices. Research is discussed concerning adult language proficiency testing, cognitive studies which attempt to conceptualize the construct of language proficiency, development of theoretical models of communicative competence, studies investigating the validity…