Describes techniques for measuring and developing the syntactic fluency of students learning French. (P M P)

AN EXPERIMENTAL COLLEGE COURSE WAS DEVELOPED TO TEST THE EFFICACY OF TWO MODERN APPROACHES OF TEACHING FRENCH. THE EXPERIMENTAL CLASSES USED A TEXT WHICH INCORPORATED THE USE OF AUDIOVISUAL TECHNIQUES FOR MORE COMPLETE CONVERSATIONAL MASTERY. THE CLASSES WERE GIVEN SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIALS AND PRE- AND POST-TESTED ON (1) COMPREHENSION, (2)…

Language instructors at one college devised a program to increase oral proficiency in language students. An oral proficiency test was developed to measure student performance. Results show that since the proficiency test has been required, students make more efforts to increase these skills through study, conversation and language laboratory use.…

Finds that text material in final (end-of-school) French oral examinations in Germany do not correspond with the accomplishment to be expected of the students, in both appropriateness and degree of difficulty. Offers criteria, sample texts, and suggestions regarding reasonable requirements. (IFS/WGA)

A description is given of experiments involving the standardization of aspects of oral fluency testing. Oral fluency is understood to imply a "communicative competence" requiring an ability to formulate accurate and appropriate utterances of more than one sentence in length. Throughout the test emphasis is laid on ease of application and…

This article discusses the factors related to successful achievement on advanced placement tests in French, and reports evidence showing that students with a bilingual home environment or having lived abroad, do better than students simply exposed to language instruction in American schools. (CLK)

Even though modern methods of teaching emphasize listening and speaking, seldom are students of English tested in a standardized way on their ability to communicate through these skills. Many people learn to communicate well enough to conduct daily affairs in a new language, yet are unable to read, write, or speak any educated form of it. They are…

The following papers are presented in the conference proceedings: (1) "Development and Current Use of the FSI Oral Interview Test," by H. Sollenberger; (2) "Interview Testing in Non-European Languages," by W. Lovelace; (3) "Measuring Second Language Speaking Ability in New Brunswick's Senior High Schools," by M.…

This special issue consists of the following seven articles on communicative competence: (1) "Psycholinguistics and Language Teaching," by Elisabeth Ingram; (2) "Current Trends in Language Teaching at the C.R.A.P.E.L.," by Philip Riley; (3) "Who Needs a Teacher? - An Alternative to the 'Conversation Class'," by Ken…

Features of Peace Corps language training programs are described with special emphasis on new approaches. The structure of a typical, minimal 300-hour program (4-6 hours per day) is contrasted with a new and very intensive program of instruction 8 hours a day. The increased need for two-language programs is explained. All programs require…

This handbook is a compendium of communication testing techniques submitted by French teachers from the United States, France, and Canada. The majority of the handbook consists of sample oral communication tests. The introductory section defines communication, outlines communications testing, and discusses listening comprehension, oral expression,…

Audio-Lectal Practice (ALP) as a second language teaching methodology is described. In this program, students recite progressively difficult texts in the language laboratory, and compare their recitation with the taped recitation of a native speaker. The method facilitates exposure and rigorous work on the oral discourse features of the target…

One of the main tenets of the audio-lingual theory which has dominated most of our thinking in foreign language teaching methodology for the last fifteen years is that students should never be put in the situation of having to say something for which they have not already learned the patterns. Is the language laboratory really useful, however, in…

The A-LM German materials are analyzed in terms of their weakness and positive features, and suggestions for their use and adaptation are presented. It is argued that: the basic dialogue is almost unusable; the structure drills are repetitive and often not challenging; the taped arrangement of the listening exercises is awkward; the dialogue…