This digest discusses the simulated oral proficiency interview (SOPI), a performance-based, tape-mediated speaking test. The SOPI follows the general structure of the oral proficiency interview (OPI) used by government agencies and the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) to measure speaking proficiency. Whereas the OPI is…

This paper describes a four-process model for the operation of a generic assessment: Activity Selection, Presentation, Response Processing (Evidence Identification), and Summary Scoring (Evidence Accumulation). It discusses the relationships between the functions and responsibilities of these processes and the objects in the Instructional…

At St. Claire School in Toronto, there is a new class in which students who have come recently from Italy speak and are taught in Italian; English is one of the other subjects taught and it too is taught with Italian as the language of instruction. (Authors/JA)

The purpose of this study was to develop an instrument for measuring the experimental attitude of fourth to sixth graders, specifically in terms of John Dewey's philosophy of experimentalism. (CK)

Describes the preparation, structure and experimental testing of an examination designed to test student achievement in the subsidiary German course at the Lanchester Polytechnic, Coventry, one of several subsidiary language courses aimed at giving Modern Language students a sound working knowledge of a third language. (FB)

Evaluates the commonly held idea that girls are better language learners than boys. Results indicate that boys are not weaker in any of the language skill areas tested. Recommends that future research concentrate on the sex and image of the teacher. (EKN)

Examined two aspects of the relationship between oral and written language for third-grade students (N=77). Results indicated that moderate relationships existed between grammatical aspects of oral and written language. Oral language proficiency significantly differed for groups rated high, medium, and low on the basis of written language…

Discusses the importance of encouraging students not only to study, but to become proficient in a second language. (EKN)

Examines the language used to communicate Keynesian ideas and measures the progress toward effective presentation of those ideas. (HOD)

Questions the extent to which attention differentially affects different parts of language and how this differential effect interacts with increased linguistic knowledge. Subjects were native English speaking learners of Italian. (Author/VWL)

Reports on a study that found that both first-language summarizing skills and second language proficiency affect second language summarizing skills, with the exception of inclusion of main ideas and amount of distortion that are more affected by first language summarizing skills. (Author/VWL)

Examines how Spanish is taught to Hispanic bilinguals. Discussion focuses on how the oral proficiency movement directly affects the teaching of native Spanish speakers. Key issues and problems stemming from the language teaching profession's attempts to apply the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages/Educational Testing Service…

Discusses some of the major developments, issues, and problems in studying the relationship between attitudes and motivation and second-language acquisition and proficiency. (29 references) (GLR)

In 3 experiments, 2 year olds imitated sentences that contained English or non-English functors (articles and verb inflections), and were controlled for suprasegmental and segmental factors. Children omitted English functors more often than non-English functors, thus indicating perceptual sensitivity to familiar elements. (RH)