In 1993 Wicklein conducted a study to determine the present and the future critical issues and problems facing the technology education (TE) profession. The Wicklein study questioned 25 panelists from 15 states and the District of Columbia to ascertain the issues and problems facing TE. However, in the Wicklein study, only seven of the panelists…

This study investigates the problems that translators and Arab learners of English encounter in translating Arabic sentences containing the Arabic discourse marker "fa" into English. Several types of texts were surveyed in order to identify the salient functions that this marker has in Arabic discourse. Five major functions were identified:…

The feasibility of constructing test forms with practically equivalent cut scores using judges' estimates of item difficulty as target "statistical" specifications was investigated. Test forms with equivalent judgmental cut scores (based on judgments of item difficulty) were assembled using items from six operational forms of the…

Studies of the Angoff method of standard setting suggest that judges agree in their estimates of the relative difficulties of test questions for minimally competent examinees and that each judge's estimates correlate well with the observed item difficulties for examinees whose total test scores are near the judge's personal standard (G. E.…

This guide discusses the ways in which educators in technical and vocational education programs can maximize opportunities for limited-English-proficient students to learn English language skills. Vocational classrooms are viewed as potentially excellent environments for language learning because of the hands-on nature of the work, undertaken in…

The program of studies for French as a Second Language is a legal document that specifies what Alberta (Canada) students are expected to learn in French as a second language from early childhood education through grade 12. In this volume, these expectations for learner knowledge, skills, and attitudes are expressed at the intermediate level of…

Context effects in test taking were explored, paying attention to the psychological processes that occur during test taking, and modeling context effects for each individual at the item block level. A sample of 279 high school students (140 females and 139 males) was chosen to yield adequate power for detecting interactions. Reading test forms…

Using data from a pilot test of science and math from students in 30 high schools, item difficulties were estimated with a one-parameter model (partial-credit model for the multi-point items). Some items were multiple-choice items, and others were constructed-response items (open-ended). Four sets of estimates were obtained: estimates for males…

Responses to previously calibrated items administered in a computerized adaptive testing (CAT) mode may be used to recalibrate the items. This live-data simulation study investigated the possibility, and limitations, of on-line adaptive recalibration of precalibrated items. Responses to items of a Rasch-based paper-and-pencil licensure examination…

Forms used at Rio Salado Community College (Arizona) to monitor student progress toward English language and civics requirements of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 are presented. The forms include the following: (1) a checklist of beginning skills in United States government and history and in English reading and writing; (2) a…

A study compared the effects of cognitive complexity on the speech production of 14 advanced non-native speakers of English and 14 native English-speakers. Cognitively simple and complex tasks were distinguished based on text type (narrative versus expository). Subjects read one narrative and one expository text in separate sessions, then wrote…

A manual for teaching vocabulary to students of English as a second language is introduced by a discussion of the reasons for neglecting vocabulary development in the past and the reasons for the present emphasis on it. The chapters that follow develop practical instructional methods for each language learning level. The topics include: (1)…

A study of beginning college Spanish students' time-on-task in the foreign language classroom is reported. First, appropriate student on-task behaviors were determined, and teacher behaviors influencing or associated with student on-task behavior were defined. An observational instrument for recording and correlating student and teacher behaviors…

This paper presents a conceptual model of information behaviour. The model is part of the Search Situation Transition method schema. The method schema is developed to discover and analyse interplay between phenomena traditionally analysed as factors influencing either information retrieval or information seeking. In this paper the focus is on the…

The study compared two promising item response theory (IRT) item-selection methods, optimal and content-optimal, with two non-IRT item selection methods, random and classical, for use in fixed-length certification exams. The four methods were used to construct 20-item exams from a pool of approximately 250 items taken from a 1985 certification…