In view of the ubiquitous increase in the use of C-tests, which are almost unanimously believed to measure general language proficiency, this study investigates whether the aspects of language proficiency tapped into by the C-test format are the same when the test is taken by a learner population other than that of foreign language learners.…

The relationship between linguistic experience and phonemic representations in spelling was investigated in two groups of Mandarin-English bilingual children (aged 5-6 years) who spoke mostly Mandarin-L1 (n = 23) or mostly English-L1 (n = 27) at home. A 60-item cloze task including high- and low-frequency words with word-initial and word-final…

Presents one solution to the problem of eliciting, classifying, and measuring language learning errors in a longitudinal study, and, in addition, seeks to isloate particular difficulties of adult Iranian learners of English. (AM)

A study investigated the variability of language performance on different types of testing task, global versus discrete-focus. Three tests (cloze, multiple-choice, and fill-in-the-blank) were developed to measure learners' knowledge of five verb forms. The tests, containing corresponding items designed to elicit equivalent structures, were…

Some empirical data are presented concerning the use of cloze tests to measure children's proficiency in a bilingual educational program. The subjects were grade five students in their sixth year of a primary French immersion program. (Author/CFM)

The major purposes of the study reported on in this paper were as follows: (1) to compare the errors made by advanced learners of English as a native language (American nine- to eleven-year-olds) and as a foreign language (native Spanish-speaking adults); (2) to investigate the usefulness of a modified cloze test in obtaining errors for profitable…

This is a teacher's guide for "Poor Simpleton," a language test designed for students of English in bilingual programs. The guide explains the nature of the test, how to administer and score it, and how to analyze test results. The test is a modified version of the cloze procedure. Unlike most cloze tests, which are…

Three measure of English language proficiency (a partial dictation [Cloze] test, a text-reading and recollection test, and a story-telling test) were administered to three groups of college-level students (Finns, Swedish-Finns, and Swedes). The results are analyzed in several articles presented here: (1) "The Comprehension of Function Words…

Assesses the validity of Language Assessment Scales (LAS) and a cloze test in measuring language proficiency. The LAS and two written cloze passages were administered to 28 Mexican-American third graders enrolled in bilingual classes. The cloze test correlated significantly only with the California Test of Basic Skills. (Author/LMO)

This paper presents some reasons for reconsidering the use of discrete structure-point tests of language proficiency, and suggests an alternative basis for designing proficiency tests. Discrete point tests are one of the primary tools of the audio-lingual method of teaching a foreign language and are based on certain assumptions, including the…

These proceedings on language testing include the following papers: (1) "The Style Test," by H. Bonheim; (2) "Testing between the Cultures: A Case Study of ESP Testing in Non-idealized Situations," by R. Brunt; (3) "Graded Objectives and Tests in British Schools," by M. Buckby; (4) "The Spanish Attributive Construction SER/ESTAR + Adjective: Real…

This paper presents arguments in favor of using partial dictation as a test of foreign language proficiency. In this kind of test, subjects listen to recordings of material in the foreign language and are required to fill in missing words in a written version of the recordings. Partial dictation is preferable to ordinary dictation in that: (1) it…