The ranking of acceptability accorded by 316 young native English-speaking and bilingual adults to the 11 most common morphological errors of nonnative speakers of English are correlated with the age, sex, linguistic sophistication, and bilingual status of the native speakers. (PMJ)

Discusses four possible purposes of bilingual education in local settings: (1) bilingual education is more equitable for language minority children; (2) bilingual education is more effective in teaching English; (3) bilingual education promotes minority group bilingualism; and (4) bilingual education helps attain bilingualism for all children.…

Presents evidence of generalizations concerning the relationship between age, rate, and eventual attainment in second language acquisition: (1) adults proceed faster than children in early stages, (2) older children acquire second language faster than younger children, and (3) acquirers exposed to second languages during childhood achieve higher…

Ten colleges and universities and the Educational Testing Service participated in a project that involved testing the Foreign Service Institute's French and Spanish oral proficiency test for possible academic applicability. (AM)

Presents a German test for English students. Errors in the placing of "nicht" are examined and categorized. Criticism of the objectivity of the findings are examined. The tests are seen as a measure of oral skills. Study is recommended of how to present most economically the various items. (IFS/WGA)

This article discusses the section of the final examination used at a regional training center in French language and literature in Morocco. The linguistics task is in the form of two tests containing language errors which an examination candidate is required to find, correct, and explain. (Text is in French.) (CLK)

Identifies characteristics of an effective language teacher (ELT) as perceived by both language teachers and students in the Israeli educational system. Various characteristics of an ELT were identified, such as the teacher's command of the target language; his or her ability to organize, explain, and clarify; and his or her ability to arouse and…

Argues that language tests employing methods not fair to all test takers are unethical. Ways of reducing sources of unfairness in language testing is discussed. (15 references) (Author/CK)

Examines the relationship between anxiety and native-language skill and foreign-language aptitude measures among high school foreign-language learners using the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS). Findings suggest that skill in one's native language may affect aptitude for learning a foreign language and that the FLCAS may provide an…

Explores the feasibility of native speaker performance criterion for validating tests for nonnative speakers. The article analyzes the results of a cloze test administered to 202 Americans and 323 students of English as a Foreign Language. Findings suggest that the efficacy of the cloze procedure is in question more than ever before. (72…

Discusses a collaboration in the design and implementation of student portfolios to examine growth in foreign-language proficiency. Analysis of the portfolios showed that many factors should be considered by teachers in deciding on contents and objectives of the portfolios. (Author/JL)

Reviews research that provides evidence that nonnative speakers of English in the United States use English a great deal and have acquired it very well. Misreporting of facts has suggested that immigrants are not acquiring English. English as a Second Language classes do facilitate the development of conversational language. (SLD)

Following a preliminary experience in a low-tech environment for distance language learning and teaching, two challenges were identified in the design of university language courses: the necessity to build sufficient flexibility into materials to cater to learners' styles, interests, and skill levels, and a need to design materials that would…

A model of information processing is used in conjunction with two verbal protocol elicitation formats--the think aloud model and the retrospective questionnaire--to shed light on the mental processes involved in a learner's performance on the cloze. Results suggest the cloze is more suitable for learners of higher language ability, because it is…

Applied Skehan's (1998) processing perspective on language use to evaluate intermediate to advanced English-as-a-Second-Language learners' competence in telling a story based on visual prompts. The purpose was to find out how the test takers' proficiency profiles vary according to three areas of competence: accuracy, complexity, and fluency across…