This paper discusses the use of standardized testing in a university-based executive training program in Japan. The program is an English language, cross-cultural, and business training program offered to Japanese and Chinese businesspersons preparing to enter the international business world. Reports on students, sent to their companies,…

The manual is designed as a reference on second language teaching and curriculum development for Peace Corps language trainers and language training coordinators. The first section, on language learning theory, introduces competency-based curriculum, describes the natural approach to language learning (the approach used throughout the manual),…

The oral communication course for English majors at the National University of Malaysia includes testing designed by faculty and coordinated with the curriculum. This practice is based on the ideas that a teacher who has been actively involved in curriculum design is in a good position to design a test for that curriculum, and that teacher-made…

This book offers 27 papers addressing critical issues in the assessment of students with all kinds of learning disabilities. Papers have the following titles and authors: "Critical Issues in the Measurement of Learning Disabilities" (G. Reid Lyon); "A Matrix of Decision Points in the Measurement of Learning Disabilities" (Barbara K. Keogh);…

Project CLASS, a collaborative family literacy demonstration research project designed to meet the language and literacy needs of limited English proficient families in Clayton County, Georgia, is described. Intergenerational and age-graded classes were provided for Cambodian, Laotian, Vietnamese, and Hispanic adult family members, their…

The Secondary Level English Proficiency (SLEP) test is a measure of ability in understanding spoken and written English. It is designed for use with students entering grades 7 through 12 whose native language is other than English. Previously offered on a limited basis at test centers established by the Educational Testing Service, the SLEP is now…

This report of a British government task force investigates the educational and policy needs for public school native language instruction for ethnic minority groups in the United Kingdom. An introductory section examines the educational policy context, rationale for minority language instruction, needs assessment and recommendations for action,…

Results of the seventh year of testing by the Pupil Assessment Program of the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction are presented. In 1982, objective-referenced tests in science, mathematics, and geometry were given to a sample of Wisconsin's public school students in grades 4, 8, 11, and 12. Students were also given the Comprehensive Tests…

This journal includes current information for English teachers (new publications, resource materials, textbooks, tests, and trends) and these articles: "Reliability in the Oral Bagrut Test" (Raphael Gefen); "A Methodological Approach to 'Rewrite Sentence' Drills" (Eliyahu Galore); "Translation as a Bagrut Subject"…

This study describes the reading and test-taking strategies that test takers used in the Reading section of the LanguEdge courseware (ETS, 2002a). These materials were developed to familiarize prospective respondents with the new TOEFL®. The investigation focused on strategies used to respond to more traditional single selection multiple-choice…

This study explores the utility of analytic scoring for the TOEFL® Academic Speaking Test (TAST) in providing useful and reliable diagnostic information in three aspects of candidates' performance: delivery, language use, and topic development. G studies were used to investigate the dependability of the analytic scores, the distinctness of the…

This annotated bibliography includes citations of 197 documents, monographs, reports, handouts, curricular materials, articles, bibliographies, newsletters, and publishers' catalogs related to English literacy instruction for secondary school limited-English-proficient (LEP) students. An introductory section describes the types of information…

The development and validation of a test of listening comprehension for English as a second language at the Dutch National Institute for Educational Measurement (Cito) is described. The test uses two distinct item formats: true-false items and modified cloze items with two options. Both item formats were found to measure foreign language listening…

Presented in this symposium reader are nine papers, four of which deal with the theory and impact of the Rasch model on language testing and five of which discuss final examinations in secondary schools in both general and specific terms. The papers are: "Introduction to Rasch Measurement: Some Implications for Language Testing" (J. J.…

Results of the 1987 assessments of grades 4, 5, 7, 9, and 11 in South Carolina public schools are summarized. The Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills, Form U, was administered to 222,956 South Carolina students in these grades. Achievement levels of grades 4, 5, and 7 were above the national median in all seven areas tested (reading, spelling,…