Three methods for second language data collection are compared: free composition, picture description and translation. The comparison is based on percentage of errors in a grammatical category and in a source category. Most results obtained from the free compositions and picture descriptions tended to be similar. Greater variation was found for…

The differential effects of the final revision of Levels 1 and 2 of the Peabody Language Development Kits (PLDK) on the Illinois Test of Psycholinguistic Abilities (ITPA) profiles of young disadvantaged black children were studied. Contrasted with 90 control subjects were 90 experimental subjects who received a daily 30-minute oral language…

The purpose of this study was to compare two instruments for screening preschool children for potential learning problems. The two instruments used were the Metropolitan Readiness Tests (MRT) and the Wizard of Oz Preschool Preliminary Screening Program. The children tested on both measures were members of a self-contained kindergarten class. MRT…

This handbook illustrates how the classroom teacher can make efficient use of tests, discusses the main purposes tests can serve, treats principal kinds of testing devices especially useful in language instruction, and includes a section on the interpretation of test results. Chapters include: (1) the importance and place of testing in the foreign…

Language laboratory effectiveness in secondary schools and related research are discussed. Criteria for five elements determining the laboratory's effectiveness are described: (1) the teacher, (2) the teaching materials, (3) the testing and grading programs, (4) the student practice sessions, and (5) the equipment. Some general remarks are made…

The purpose of this paper is to present a practical model for determining and depicting language dominance, given the general nature and needs of bilingual education programs in the United States. The author proposes the use of parallel tests of aural ability to indicate initially the language dominance of children who, for example, are otherwise…

Twelve workpapers on the teaching of English as a second language presented during the 1971-72 school year on the University of California at Los Angeles campus are compiled in this booklet. They include: (1) "The Designs for Intermediate and Advanced Second-Language Classes, " (2) "The Universalist Hypothesis: Some Implications for Contrastive…

This article suggests a method for determining and depicting language dominance through the use of parallel tests of aural ability in two languages. In addition, the use of a two-dimensional graph consisting of the proficiency levels within each language appears fruitful as a means of depicting such dominance scores in the initial placement of…

The Oral Language Program is a set of instructional materials in English as a second language for children aged five to seven. It is also an instructional system; in addition to 150 lessons for the children, there are pupil assessment devices, teacher training procedures and materials, program evaluation procedures, and installation and monitoring…

This test is intended for use with a two-volume, 32-lesson set of materials for rural disadvantaged kindergarten children. The lessons are designed to help alleviate language deficiencies of the children by providing them with school-related activities, communication and cultural experiences, and other readiness instruction through language…

It has been observed that some American students develop disorders of communication when learning a foreign language by the audiolingual method. Such disorders take various forms - "word deafness," articulatory defects and deviations in vocal quality. A project to study these phenomena began in 1959 at Purdue University. One study examined the…

The report reviews recent arguments for directing attention to suitability for a linguistic course of study. A first step in that direction, a Verbal Reasoning Test composed and tried out in the 1975 student selection for English, is described, and the results of this experiment, involving 1046 candidates, are given. The Verbal Reasoning Test is…

This is a Spanish reading guide for the bilingual Spanish-English second grade teacher. The guide contains twenty-eight objectives to be mastered, with the corresponding tests. The emphasis is on encoding, decoding, vocabulary, and comprehension. (CFM)

This paper describes the development of an oral language skills assessment instrument, called the Children's Language Assessment-Situational Tasks (CLA-ST), and its utilization in both formative and summative evaluation of the Tucson Early Education Model (TEEM) in Project Follow Through. First and third graders in Follow Through classrooms…

A special reading system was developed for elementary school children learning to read for the first time in their second language, English. This paper describes the reading system and traces its success over a four-year period as measured through standardized testing instruments. (Author)