Analyses of the Null Subject Parameter (NSP) suggest that several factors may influence the resetting process for second language acquisition, such as specific "trigger" data, awareness of agreement as a part of awareness of agreement (INFL), and stylistic rules such as subject postposing and anaphoric reference. Four tests were…

A study was undertaken to identify the prerequisite relations (or hierarchies among the items) existing in the item responses of a sample of 86 foreign students who took the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) vocabulary and reading comprehension test, Form 3JTF1. The form contains 30 vocabulary items and 30 reading comprehension items.…

This is the first issue of a new journal, to be published annually, by the California Association of Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (CATESOL). Articles in this issue include: "English as a Bridge between Cultures: Scotland, Carolina, and California" (Patricia C. Nichols); "Cambodian Refugees: Factors Affecting…

A study evaluated the ability of older adults to accurately perceive and retain Spanish in their short-term memory. Specifically, the study investigated differences in native language (English) auditory perception, short-term native language auditory memory capacity, monolingual age differences in auditory perception ability in an unknown…

A study investigated whether or not a discrete-item test of English affixes could be used to measure second language reading comprehension. Subjects were 1,254 mostly first-year university students in four academic departments studying to pass the first half of a foreign language requirement, an English reading comprehension test. Results from two…

In the Lower Kuskokwim School District of western Alaska, the Yupik Eskimo language is the language of preference in most homes and communities, and students are relatively isolated from an environment that requires the consistent use of fluent English. The district's bilingual education staff attempted to locate a commercially developed…

A study investigated the relationship of different aspects of anxiety and second language production in a relatively non-threatening oral production task. Subjects were 43 introductory psychology students who had completed grade 12 French instruction at least 1 year prior to the study who had not had any formal French instruction since then. The…

The oral proficiency interview should be administered infrequently, but there are other measures than can be used between interviews to maintain oral proficiency and achievement as the organizing principles of instruction while placing fewer demands on the teacher/tester. One such measure is a semi-direct procedure that has two steps. First,…

Some of the issues, history, and approaches in the testing of second language writing skills are reviewed. It is argued that because writing serves many important functions in the lives of individuals and activities that speech cannot do equally well, it is time to stop viewing writing as secondary to speech and to accord it equal attention. Most…

The question of dividing language proficiency into components was explored by determining which of three models best fit the experimental data: a model postulating numerous specific sources of variance (the extreme divisible model), one postulating a single, large source of variance (the unitary model), or one postulating a large general factor…

A study of the reliability of the proficiency ratings scale and techniques used by three federal government agencies--the Central Intelligence Agency, the Defense Language Institute, and the Foreign Service Institute (FSI)--to test employees' oral language proficiency in French and German had two randomly selected two-person teams of testers from…

A review of research in self-assessment techniques for foreign language skills is based on a survey of the literature and the results of a survey of teachers, researchers, and administrators in adult education centers in many areas of the world. Two late 1970s surveys of self-assessment research and pilot experiments concerning the general…

Proficiency, which refers to a concept that is more complex than is generally acknowledged, is an overworked term in second language teaching that lacks a satisfactory operational definition. Linguistic knowledge is currently defined most often in terms of what an individual is able to do with the knowledge, as in the movement for competency-based…

The development and validation of a Portuguese oral language test are described. The test consisted of five item types: personal conversation, giving directions, description of picture sequences, topical discourse, and oral task completion based on printed instructions. Three preliminary forms of the test were administered to a group of language…

The English Language Testing Service (ELTS) Revision Project is a joint British and Australian effort to develop a new test of English language proficiency for use with foreign students. The existing test, in use for seven years, is being radically revised to combine indirect, semi-direct, and direct test types and to focus on both general and…