Question development in English as a second language in four native Spanish-speaking children is described. The English questions initiated by four children differing in English proficiency (two limited English speaking and two fluent English speaking) were examined at two points in time to determine how question use changes in the syntactic,…

A project to develop and validate a tape-based alternative to the interview-based speaking proficiency test is described. The objective was to produce an economically more viable test for less commonly taught languages, closely modeled on and readily interpretable in terms of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages/Interagency…

Research indicates that writing can be an important vehicle for integrating all the learning that occurs in a foreign language. However, a number of factors have conspired to displace foreign language writing as a critical skill: the push for oral proficiency, departmental fragmentation, larger class sizes, and heavier faculty loads. Second…

This proficiency exam for ninth-year French is comprised of a composition test and a reading comprehension test. The composition test consists of general instructions, the description of a subject about which the student is to write a narrative, and space for organizing, drafting, and writing a final copy of the composition. The reading…

A handbook for teachers in small school districts who are faced with the need to include increasing numbers of students with limited English proficiency (LEP) in their regular classroom programs is presented. The handbook is designed to help teachers develop effective strategies to adapt curricula and instructional materials to meet this…

Communicative proficiency, defined as native-like ability to use the language as a medium of two-way communication, is most effectively and efficiently achieved through instruction emphasizing development of listening and reading comprehension skills, and virtually excluding training in production. The comprehension approach avoids the teaching of…

The Indiana Foreign Language Generic Competencies for Levels 1-4 define language-learning outcomes in terms of communicative competencies within generic cultural contexts. Nine cultural contexts (travel/transportation, the "world" of the target language, school and education, family and home, leisure time, meeting personal needs, world…

This study investigates cultural differences in second language aural comprehension levels among Asians under the constraints of background noise. It is determined that noise is an important component of language proficiency, for it is found where most interactions take place. Students from Hong Kong, Seoul (Korea), Tokyo (Japan), and the South…

Two groups of grade 12 French immersion students in Ottawa and Carleton, Ontario, one having been in immersion French since at least grade 4 and one having started in grade 6 or 7, were administered three tests of French proficiency in a study of the groups' comparative language achievement. Scores sufficiently high to excuse the students from the…

The realization that the areas of second language and mathematics education share some common features and that educators in these fields may profit by an exposure to research and practice in both fields motivated the production of this paper. From an introduction to the literature, parallels in the history of the two disciplines were recognized:…

A study of the language proficiency of students in core French programs in a number of Eastern Ontario (Canada) high schools looked at the listening comprehension, reading comprehension, and oral skills of students in grades 9, 10, and 12. Comparisons were made across and within school districts, and also with previous groups tested. Findings show…

Instructions and ideas for classroom use of "Jeu de Banque" (The Bank Game), an instructional game about the French banking system developed by the French Association of Banks, are presented. The structure and content of the game are discussed in terms of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages/Educational Testing…

Focusing on English as a second language (ESL) students' cognitive difficulties in content courses, a study evaluated the Retention Exemplary Model Project for 1986-87 of Hostos Community College of the City University of New York. The project's goal was to help advanced and post-ESL students acquire the language and cognitive skills required to…

The first two years of a study of the development of bilingual language proficiency are reported in separate volumes. The core of the work during this period was the development of a model of language proficiency. Other related studies addressed topics such as the relationship between aspects of language proficiency and scoring methodology on…

The Montgomery County (Maryland) Public Schools (MCPS) provide English language instruction to approximately 3,800 students with limited English proficiency. This report represents results of an evaluation of the English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL)/Bilingual services offered during 1981-82. The first phase focuses on the entry/exit…