This guide to careers requiring knowledge of a foreign language details a wide range of positions. It begins with a general survey of the field of foreign languages--historical background, need for trained personnel, attributes necessary for success, comments of business and professional people. Educational preparation in high school, college, and…

Three methods for second language data collection are compared: free composition, picture description and translation. The comparison is based on percentage of errors in a grammatical category and in a source category. Most results obtained from the free compositions and picture descriptions tended to be similar. Greater variation was found for…

This study focuses on a native speaker of Chinese, in her 40's, who began to learn English in her late 20's when she emigrated to the United States. It was discovered that the subject was able to self-correct nearly every error she made in casual speech when the errors were pointed out to her after their commission. Furthermore, in nearly every…

The errors of 187 bilingual students, aged 10 years, 11 months to 19 years, 8 months were analyzed as they studied English as a third language. Errors were categorized with two major learning strategies in mind: transfer and overgeneralization. Types of errors were related to degree of bilingualism, English proficiency level and age of the…

The purpose of this paper is to present a practical model for determining and depicting language dominance, given the general nature and needs of bilingual education programs in the United States. The author proposes the use of parallel tests of aural ability to indicate initially the language dominance of children who, for example, are otherwise…

This article suggests a method for determining and depicting language dominance through the use of parallel tests of aural ability in two languages. In addition, the use of a two-dimensional graph consisting of the proficiency levels within each language appears fruitful as a means of depicting such dominance scores in the initial placement of…

This syllabus describes and outlines the first half of an experimental, two-year course leading to the study of a modern foreign language at the University of Washington. In effect, the two-year course, which introduces the student to the nature of language, tests the belief that it is easier to learn a second foreign language, due to linguistic…

Ways in which young children can and do develop language ability are discussed by experts in this collection of papers written by speech and language professionals. This book is designed to help educators and allied professionals guide children through the process of language acquisition in their early language forming years. Practical information…

To evaluate the effectiveness of the Michigan Migrant Primary Interdisciplinary Project's (MMPIP) "Interdisciplinary Oral Language Guide; Primary One" in helping 1st graders having limited control of standard English with the oral language they require for school, 6 unique conditions were imposed on bilingual and non-bilingual students…

The report reviews recent arguments for directing attention to suitability for a linguistic course of study. A first step in that direction, a Verbal Reasoning Test composed and tried out in the 1975 student selection for English, is described, and the results of this experiment, involving 1046 candidates, are given. The Verbal Reasoning Test is…

This study examined the most frequent communicative and linguistic errors made by 24 intermediate ESL students, and determined the effect of direct teacher correction upon these students' writing proficiency. Students were identified as having high or low communicative proficiency and were randomly assigned to one of two error correction…

The evaluation of the first year of the English as a Second Language Tutorial Program of Boulder Valley Public Schools included on-site observations, interviews with coordinators and teachers, a linguistic evaluation of each student (elementary and secondary levels), a classroom teacher's questionnaire, a parents' questionnaire, and a tutor's…

A discussion of Norway's efforts to develop a national test of modern languages to be administered at the end of compulsory education looks at the objectives of language instruction and the test types chosen to address the specific competencies desired. (MSE)

Forty-eight adult learners from three intermediate-level ESL classes participated in a study investigating the effects that differences in learners' out-of-class contact with the second language might have on proficiency. Results indicated that learners' informal contact interacted with differences in instruction to produce variation in…

Reviews current research on listening comprehension and development of listening tests and considers four issues in detail: 1) the meaning of context in listening testing; 2) the concept of criterion referenced tests; 3) the notion of specific purposes in testing; and 4) the use of technology in listening tests. Issues for future research are…