A discussion of the role of court interpreters looks at the need for competent interpreters, the kinds and demands of court interpretation, and New Jersey's leadership in recognizing the necessity for court interpretation. Demographic and legal reasons for providing interpreters in today's courts are outlined. Three court interpreting functions…

This study investigated the relationship between aptitude, as measured by Defense Language Aptitude Battery (DLAB) scores, and oral proficiency as measured by the Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) scores of 72 Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Special Agents who completed basic foreign language training at the Defense Language Institute (DLI).…

This bilingual program quality review instrument is intended as a guide for school district personnel to design and improve bilingual education programs. It can be used for the following purposes: as an on-site review instrument to provide formative evaluation input about language-minority group programs; as a device for collecting information at…

A study tested the hypothesis that the production of derivational (as contrasted with grammatical) morphemes is acquired through a systematic development of three distinct psychological processes: comprehension, segmentation, and production, regardless of whether the individual is a first- or second-language learner. The subjects were 32 children,…

The modified American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages Educational Testing Service (ACTFL/ETS) oral proficiency scale was developed in response to a request from the New Brunswick (Canada) Department of Education for assistance in comparing the results of its French immersion and core programs. Because the existing ACTFL/ETS academic…

A study investigated the use of reading proficiency scales developed by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL), Educational Testing Service (ETS), and Interagency Language Roundtable (ILR) for meaningful rank-ordering and assigning levels of second language competence to reading passages. In a proficiency test writing…

A review of research was conducted on the possibility of a sensitive period for the acquisition of native-like pronunciation in a second language, as well as on related questions concerning the universality of this phenomenon, age factors, biological versus cultural origins, and developmental psychology. The review showed variation in studies and…

A case study addressed (1) the relationship between language ability and the use of top-level organizational strategies that focus on the macrostructure of written text, and (2) the comparative use of these strategies when reading expository texts in native language (L1) and second language (L2). Subjects were five Hispanic English as a second…

This report describes the Bilingual Pupil Services project (B.P.S.) which provided basic instruction in English reading, Spanish reading, and mathematics to Spanish-speaking students of limited English proficiency in New York City community schools. Also presented are the results of program evaluation for 1980-81. The report outlines the project…

The debate over the past decade about the pedagogical effectiveness of bilingual education and the research evidence are reviewed. The case for bilingual education rests on the assumption that because children cannot learn in a language they do not understand, they will fall behind academically in programs taught only in that language. Against…

A verbal skills curriculum program, designed for use with United States Navy recruits with deficiencies in English language listening and speaking skills was field tested at a recruit training station in Florida. The curriculum was self-paced and was composed of three learning modules: Navy-related vocabulary, grammatical structures, and language…

The status and priorities of the teaching of East Asian languages were discussed in eight papers presented at a 1981 conference. The topics addressed include: (1) the need to give language teaching a higher priority as a national concern; (2) the role of the federal government in East Asian language study; (3) the teaching of Japanese, Korean, and…

A study was conducted to determine the levels of communication apprehension (CA) experienced by individuals living in the United States whose native language is not English and to measure the extent to which CA varies with the interaction contexts, number of years speaking English, time living in the United States, and the speaker's sex. Subjects…

Since the time of E. B. Huey (1908), there have been clear indicators that oral language as a reflection of a child's linguistic ability has been clearly related to his or her reading achievement or comprehension. P. McKee (1937) and W. S. Gray (1937) both speculated that reading difficulties might parallel language deficiencies. G. Hildreth…

"Skill-using" in second-language learning is often given less priority than "skill-getting" activities. The first and second year of language instruction should concentrate on longer and more varied sequences of tasks in which the learner is communicating and using "real" language. In addition, the learner's focus should be shifted from his errors…