The school performance of pupils in grades K-2 of the French immersion program in operation at Allenby Public School in Toronto is evaluated in comparison with that of pupils in the regular English program. The results indicate that by the end of kindergarten pupils in both programs are equally ready for beginning school work in grade 1. By the…

This study represents several years' work on devising tests to measure children's relative proficiency in two languages or speech varieties. A preliminary oral proficiency test in English and Spanish was administered to 45 bilingual students, of whom 41 took both versions. On the basis of difficulty and significant tendencies, 32 items were…

The author discusses the criteria to be considered in evaluating textbooks for classes of English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL). They are: (1) the age and proficiency level of the students; (2) the amount of time allotted for ESOL classes; (3) the treatment of the four language skills and all subject areas; (4) gradation and presentation…

This study involved the use of group process techniques in meetings at which parents and teachers were encouraged to express their feelings, frustrations, needs and expectations. The two hypotheses tested were: (1) parents participating in the encounters will evidence more direct concern for their children's preschool education and more favorable…

This is a survey of techniques that have been used to test language comprehension. The study of research completed in this field points up the fact that there is no single technique that universally gives valid and reliable information. Various definitions of language comprehension are examined with special emphasis placed on implications for the…

This bibliography contains an annotated listing of 21 verbal and nonverbal tests for children in bilingual programs. Included are tests of intelligence, general ability, and language proficiency. The languages covered are Spanish, English, French, and German. There is a brief description of each test, including information concerning its grade…

Three areas are the focus of this report: (1) a description of the International Farm Youth Exchange (IFYE) program including its goals, function, organizational structure, operations, and financial arrangements; (2) the concept of cross-cultural communication and its implications for international understanding and world peace; and (3) an…

The theoretical teaching model described in this document provides a plan whereby a child entering the Bilingual School in kindergarten and remaining in school through sixth grade will have experienced seven years of bilingual instruction and will be able to receive 50% of his instruction in English and 50% in Spanish. This objective is based on…

Evaluation of a bilingual's proficiency in a second language (S) should consider the extent to which his performance is influenced by his competence in his native or primary language (P). An evaluation of proficiency in an S language should reflect the intuitions of S's native speakers. It is found that native speakers do not regard all instances…

Discusses three possible sources of nonrandom but extraneous variance in self-reported attitude data, and demonstrates that these data may be surreptitious measures of verbal intelligence and language proficiency. (Author/AM)

Examines the effects of aptitude, field independence, attitude, and strategy use upon four areas of language achievement: formal/oral, formal/written, functional/oral, and functional/written. Test results indicated that aptitude and field independence are related, as are strategy use and attitude; only aptitude and strategy use, however, affect…

Discusses "proper intake" (intake that contains certain designated features of informal communication) in the classroom, when the goal is for students to be able to use language in informal communication. (Author/HP)

Investigation of the use of five speech markers in the native and second-language production of French-English bilinguals (N=10) found no quantitative difference in the frequency of occurrence of speech markers between the high (N=5) and low (N=5) fluency speakers, although high-fluency speakers used more progressive than regressive marker types.…

Analysis of Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) scores, grade point averages, graduate credits earned, and academic majors of 376 international graduate students indicate that TOEFL scores are not effective predictors of academic success. Significant correlation was seen between TOEFL scores and graduate credits earned. (Author/CB)

Interlanguage studies in second language acquisition and language for speciic purposes (LSP), though developed independently, often use the same data and could benefit from mutual interaction. Related issues for future research are presented. Contents of articles in this issue are reviewed. (Author/LMO)