The Certificates of Foreign Language Proficiency are general purpose tests of language use designed for the adult learner in Finland. This paper deals with the techniques of validation used when designing the test specifications and implementing these into the first versions of the tests. The data comes from the development of tests in one…

Most research on language transfer has been conducted on the first and second language. This paper describes a case of transfer from the second language to the third language, specifically the influence of French (L2) on the learning of English (L3). The study focuses on French-English lexical cognates and suggests that although the learners…

As the British business community becomes increasingly internationalized, it should show more interest in language-related matters. After a review of the literature, this paper reports on a study of the 100 largest British industrial companies. The conclusions are as follows: (1) a wide variety of British employees are involved in international…

This paper discusses findings from an ongoing 3-year study of the impact of strategy training on Russian listening comprehension. In particular, the study focused on the techniques that encourage increased student control of their application of learner strategies. The research presented adds to prior research on listening training in second…

The development of the Cambridge Assessment of Spoken English (CASE) is reviewed, with particular reference to the trialling and validation of the rating scales. The objectives of the test are to assess an individual's ability to produce and process spoken English; demonstrate the ability to communicate in English through the use of grammatical,…

This digest focuses on the American Council on the Speaking of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) Speaking Proficiency Guidelines. The history and development of the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines (originally, the ACTFL Provisional Proficiency Guidelines) are reviewed, the generic characteristics of each level of the speaking guidelines are presented in…

This paper presents a report of a 1987 symposium on the Evaluation of Foreign Language Proficiency held in Bloomington, Indiana. Although much has been accomplished in language testing, much remains to be done before the language teaching profession has at its disposal a common means of measuring proficiency in the functional use of language in…

Fluctuations in interest and enrollment in the study of Latin in the United States have led many to believe that the language was in permanent decline. However, in the last decade the public has become more aware of the need for language instruction, and high school Latin enrollments have risen dramatically since 1976. There is a shortage of…

The language teaching profession should avoid discussing reasons to study a foreign language because the tendency is to invent shallow reasons. The deeper reasons for offering a language are derived from a general appreciation of the value of culture and education. Those are the lures that attracted teachers to the profession in the first place.…

This report suggests that language study combined with the broad-based study of the history, politics, and culture of other countries, as well as existing international business courses, are essential for first-class preparation of a business person who will operate internationally. The report discusses how to sharpen the focus of internalization…

The oral interaction hypothesis, proposed by Long and investigated by Pica, in second language (L2) acquisition is critiqued. The interaction hypothesis advances two major claims about the role of interaction in L2 acquisition: (1) comprehensible input is necessary for L2 acquisition; and (2) modifications to the interactional structure of…

Eighty Utah companies currently hiring Indochinese refugees and 73 identified simply as "general employers" took part in a study of employers' reactions to Indochinese refugees as job applicants and as employees. The study used questionnaires and oral interviews directed at personnel managers and supervisors and some language proficiency…

Persian language instructors at U.S. universities were surveyed regarding (1) their methods for measuring Persian language proficiency among American undergraduate students, (2) research verifying the validity and reliability of these methods, and (3) their definitions of Persian language proficiency. A 12-item questionnaire was completed by 17…

The use of observation of natural language interaction as a measure of language proficiency and the impact of discourse characteristics on children's use of Spanish and English as measured by length of utterances are examined. The goal of this observational approach to measuring language proficiency is to distinguish between the effects of change…

Educators insure that black students will never learn to write as well as they can by convincing them of the myth that, as a people, the strength of blacks lies in oral communication. (EH)