This paper considers the influence of the values and the discourse behaviors of the native-speaking assessor as interlocutor. These variables in the assessments of oral proficiency interrelate in complex ways with features of test design such as tasks, prompts, topics, guidelines, and assessor training. This paper reviews some previous studies,…

Guidance on the administration, scoring, and reporting of new state tests for teachers and administrators is provided. The tests are designed to track the English Language Arts and Mathematics proficiency of students in the 4th and 8th grade. Regents examinations assessing the English, Mathematics, Social Studies, and Science proficiency of high…

In order to make an intelligent advance in any school practice a knowledge of what schools are doing in that practice is almost indispensable, since a transition in procedures must be a growth from the one to the other. This bulletin gives this background of facts concerning the use of tests and examinations by the different subject departments in…

The effect of anxiety on learning in a variety of educational contexts is examined, and two areas of anxiety research that are especially relevant to educational psychology are discussed in detail: the interaction between anxiety and instructional methods, and test anxiety reduction programs and their outcomes. (Author/RD)

Two tests of cognitive development, the Cartoon Conservation Scales, Levels I and II, were designed to measure Piagetian stage-related constructs for children of different age groups. The tests were factor analyzed within age levels and were also analyzed using scalogram and tabular methods to test sequential hypotheses. (Author/CTM)

Describes physics project of the sixth-year of secondary schools in Scotland. The article also discusses: (1) aims of the Scottish certificate of sixth-year studies (CSYS); (2) teacher's role; and (3) method of teaching physics projects. (HM)

Studies the relationship between Dutch students' attitudes toward German, the course material, and the teacher and students' achievements in German. Results show that students having positive attitudes achieved more than those with negative attitudes and that students enrolled in a communicative course had more positive attitudes than those in a…

Examines the issue of speech rate and listening comprehension by giving control of speech rate to students and focusing on individuals instead of groups. The study concluded that when given control, students' listening comprehension improved and improved listening comprehension was achieved by slowing down the speech rate. (21 references)…

Discusses the relationship between universal grammar and second language (L2) acquisition. Explores the phenomenon by testing children of contrasting first languages to see whether null-prep is a general acquisition phenomenon among L2 learners of English, and whether child learners, in contrast to adults, produce null-prep because of first…

Examines lexical interference from the perspective of language proficiency in a study of Iranian English-as-a-Foreign-Language learners. Subjects were given two tests--a proficiency test and a test on similar lexical forms--to investigate whether there is any relationship between the two variables in question. Results indicate that there is a…

Provides information to parents about tests and assessments used to evaluate their children in school. Performance assessments, such as portfolios, are increasingly used to measure students' ability to do actual tasks. However, standardized aptitude and achievement tests still have a major influence on what students are taught. (SM)

A study at the University of Transkei (South Africa), a historically black university, examined whether student efforts to work through class assignments promoted academic achievement. Results showed that of 65 subjects, those who completed the assignments regularly were the highest performers. The latter group generally failed in tests but showed…

Examines the processes employed by subjects in Hong Kong engaged in an English-as-a-Second-Language discourse cloze test. Think-aloud protocols obtained from test-takers indicate the reasoning and strategies employed in selecting items to complete gaps in the cloze passage. Findings reveal the test-taking behavior of the subjects and presents a…

Investigated the effects of readers' gender, topic familiarity, enjoyment, and interest on second language reading. University students of Spanish completed a reading passage each day, a written recall comprehension task, and a questionnaire. Findings suggest that in addition to linguistic factors, other variables such as gender, passage content,…

Investigated the relationship between writing performance and speaking performance in German as a foreign language learners through quantitative analysis of the variance and correlation among oral, written, and explicit rule abilities as evidenced in present-tense verbal morphology and syntax. Subjects performed an explicit rule grammar test and a…