This guide is intended for the use of the interviewers who determine the oral proficiency ratings of candidates for the Foreign Service. The following materials have been collected: (1) "The Measurement of Speaking and Reading Proficiency in a Foreign Language," (2) "Definitions of Absolute Ratings," (3) "Factors in…

This study is based on three years of experience on the university level and addresses the questions of how to engage in play production and why it is valuable. The "how to" question considers the following: choice of a play, production of scenery, public relations and publicity, financing, rehearsal scheduling and time needed, how to direct the…

This speech-communication examination is a "dyadic" test in which students, issued a set of cards to be marked according to directions, are assigned partners with whom they communicate and respond to in turn. This latest version of dyadic tests has been administered in rural and urban public schools in Hawaii, to speakers of nonstandard…

This paper provides background on the procedures currently used in the language interviews conducted by the Peace Corps in testing Peace Corps Volunteer/Trainee performance in host country languages. The purpose of these face-to-face interviews, which are based on the interviews used by the Foreign Service Institute, is "to give the student…

A presentation of a rigorous method allowing an accurate description of collective bilingualism in any given population, including both the speaker's degree of language command and the patterns of linguistic behavior in each of the languages. [In Spanish] (NQ)

Reports on an experiment designed to test the reliability of the cloze procedure in second language testing, specifically as a measure of overall language proficiency, and as a measure whose results are independent of style. (AM)

This article discusses the popular belief that girls are more advanced in language development than boys. (Author/NCR)

As as illustration of the way we can conserve the insights of the past and at the same time infuse them with a sense of discovery and personal creativity, the author sketches the relationship between anthropological theory and the problems of bilingual education. (MM)

The Chicano population in the Southwest is primarily bilingual. Chicano bilingualism persists amidst two opposing currents: language reinforcement through continuous contact with incoming Mexicans and isolation from other linguistic groups; and language shift, often the stronger current, from the permeation by the English language of all spheres…

Usage of the German "doch" is explained as an aid to teaching. (CHK)

A synthesis of research on the Franco-Ontarian school environment focuses on the maintenance of French by Franco-Ontarian students, their French language proficiency, and their native language instruction. The relevance of these issues in other French language minority settings is discussed. (MSE)

Briefly describes the rationale, history of development, and current status of the "proficiency-based" testing movement in the United States. and cites areas in which additional research and development work are recommended to enhance both the validity and the practical value of this approach. (Author/LMO)

A framework is proposed for an integrated course in which knowledge of a language is consciously related to the processes of interpersonal communication and the cultural aspects of marketing and negotiation. (Editor)

Comparisons of 91 deaf children's (ages 5-15) understanding of 25 sentences presented in American Sign Language (ASL), simplified English, and standard English showed no significant differences in the children's ability to comprehend the three different forms. Findings do not support proposals to substitute ASL or simplified English for standard…

Focuses on the increasing use of the so-called stative verbs found in the progressive aspect from the perspective of the nonnative speaker of English. The use of stative verbs in the progressive is a predictable consequence of the meaning of the present progressive and the particular discourse contexts in which progressive statives are found.…