The "Standard Written English" test newly added to the Scholastic Aptitude Test is reactionalry, unscholarly, and potentially discriminatory. (JH)

This article presents a model of a proficiency test for objectively evaluating the French pronunciation of advanced English-speaking students. A survey of different techniques is made. The specific techniques described allows for testing of phonemic, phonetic and prosodic competency. A sample correction grid is included. (CLK)

By analyzing different language tests currently in use for elementary school children, the article criticizes psychometric means of evaluation and ideas about language and language acquisition resulting from psychometric evaluation. (Text is in French.) (CLK)

A focus on test validity includes a consideration of the way a test measures that which it proposes to test; in other words, the validity of a test depends on method as well as content. This paper examines three areas of concern: (1) some features of communication that test method should reflect, (2) the main components of method, and (3) some…

The sixth-form curriculum and examinations in Northern Ireland and Britain are examined. "A" level modern language examinations represent rigorous intellectual demands, in which the examiner looks for evidence of imagination, creativity, linguistic subtlety, and critical appraisal far beyond the "O" level. For the ablest…

A PENCIL-AND-PAPER TEST WAS CONSTRUCTED TO STUDY DEAF CHILDREN'S LINGUISTIC COMPETENCE (ABILITY TO PRODUCE AND COMPREHEND THE GRAMMATICAL SENTENCES COMPRISING A LANGUAGE). THE TEST WAS TO REFLECT LINGUISTIC ASPECTS OF A CHILD'S BEHAVIOR, BUT NOT EXTRALINGUISTIC ASPECTS SUCH AS READING AND WRITING. IT CONSISTED OF FIVE SUBTESTS--(1) REPETITION OF…

UNDER TITLE VI OF THE NATIONAL DEFENSE EDUCATION ACT THE MODERN LANGUAGE ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA (MLA) UNDERTOOK IN 1960 TO PREPARE A SERIES OF TESTS IN FRENCH, GERMAN, ITALIAN, RUSSIAN. AND SPANISH FOR USE OF TWO LEVELS--(1) AFTER THE 2D YEAR OF HIGH SCHOOL LANGUAGE STUDY, OR THE SECOND SEMESTER IN COLLEGE, AND (2) AFTER THE 4TH YEAR OF HIGH…

TO INVESTIGATE THE EFFECTS OF THE LANGUAGE LABORATORY ON FOREIGN LANGUAGE LEARNING, THE BUREAU OF AUDIO-VISUAL INSTRUCTION OF NEW YORK CITY CONDUCTED EXPERIMENTS IN 1ST-, 2D-, AND 3D-YEAR HIGH SCHOOL CLASSES. THE FIRST EXPERIMENT, WHICH COMPARED CONVENTIONALLY TAUGHT CLASSES WITH GROUPS HAVING SOME LABORATORY TEACHING, SHOWED THAT GROUPS WITH…

IN THE STUDY OF EDUCATIONALLY DISADVANTAGED PRESCHOOL CHILDREN, 160 PREDOMINANTLY NEGRO CHILDREN 3 1/2 TO 4 1/2 YEARS OF AGE WERE PRETESTED ON A BATTERY CONSISTING OF A LANGUAGE TEST, DESIGNED TO EXPLORE THE CHILDREN'S FANTASY BEHAVIOR, AND TWO BRIEF INTELLIGENCE TESTS. CHILDREN WERE ASSIGNED TO NURSERY AND NONNURSERY GROUPS ON THE BASIS OF…

This guide provides an overview of the language process, with sections focusing on the physiological aspects (organization of the brain), language development, environmental variables, cognition, language deficits and evaluation, language remediation, and implications of the reading process. Appendixes provide selected listings of developmental…

An administrator's manual and two reading comprehension tests in Spanish and English for use in secondary grades and with adults are presented here. The Spanish reading comprehension test was developed, standardized, and normed in Mexico; the English reading comprehension test was translated from the Spanish test. The tests were designed to be…

A collection of tests measuring language proficiency and/or language dominance is described; twenty-eight of the tests are commercially available and twelve are available from non-commercial sources. There are no evaluative judgments made. The descriptive information for each test includes: title; author; where to order (or where to inquire, for…

Generally speaking, the main purposes of second language tests are survey; didactic, psychological or sociological research; and evaluation, the latter being the concern of this paper. Evaluation tests measure the knowledge the learner has of the second or foreign languages, and may be subdivided into the following categories: (1) aptitude tests,…