The oral interview (OI) was developed to meet the need for a testing procedure of second language speaking skills. It has been refined and expanded several times since first developed in the 1950's for use by the U.S. Government. Now known as the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages/Educational Testing Services (ACTFL/ETS) scale,…

This digest provides useful information on starting an elementary school foreign language (FLES) program. Individual sections address the following: (1) cautions in planning a FLES program; (2) initiating the planning process; (3) designing the program, with special attention given to scheduling and language choice; (4) programs that lead to high…