Incompleteness of competence--lack of command of certain second-language (L2) aspects--and divergence--interlanguage representations of L2 properties different from native representations--are distinct states of grammatical competence, as seen in French and English speakers of Italian (L2). Discussion argues that competence differences reflect…

Reports results of variety of validity analyses involving American Council on Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) Oral Proficiency Interview as it was administered to 59 learners of English and 60 learners of French. Concludes that ACTFL guidelines can be useful as an assessment tool and offer advantages that warrant serious consideration in the…

Follow up to a previous study of the use of "por" and "para," this study analyzes "ser,""estar," and "haber" for lexical selection in relation to their functions and also for errors in tense, mode, aspect, agreement, and invented forms and uses of copula in simplified or reduced utterances. Data were from 20 oral examinations of Peace Corps…

Research is reported that examined whether and at what level of second language (L2) proficiency the meaning of conjunctions is comprehended by the adult literate L2 learner. Results suggest that the ability to recognize logical relationships within local contexts is a necessary but not significant component of comprehension. (34 references)…

Discusses the applicability and relevance of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) scale and guidelines when applied to secondary school students. The argument is made that measurements of proficiency have already exceeded the theory and should be slowed from further development. (21 references) (GLR)

The circumstances that led the University of Pennsylvania to use proficiency as the organizing principle for the evaluation of students satisfying its language requirement are described as well as the procedures that have been established to carry out the policy. (two references) (VWL)

French cuisine offers a valuable resource for creating culture-based contexts for language use in the classroom. Suggestions and ideas are presented for incorporating food-related activities in the French class. (VWL)

Discusses an approach to teaching about the environment in the Spanish classroom. The approach incorporates oral proficiency goals and is based on authentic materials that are accompanied by worksheets that include prereading exercises, small-group discussion activities and structured conversation and composition suggestions. (VWL)

In this study, 36 Serbian/English bilinguals and 42 English monolinguals (aged 5-8 years) received a successive name training assessment of 2heuristics: criterial use of highlighted features and preservation of mutual exclusivity. Results support the view that monolingual and bilingual acquisition fosters the development of different word learning…

Investigated the behaviors for processing language input demonstrated by five adults beginning to learn Hindi as a second language through the Total Physical Response method. The study suggests that, when adult learners are provided with comprehensive input, they engage in a variety of behaviors to extract meaning from it. (73 references) (GLR)

Argues that holistic scoring requires evaluators to suppress their interpretive judgment and treat students' writing differently than in any other situation, based on an analysis of videotaped reader-training sessions for an English Proficiency Essay Exam. (NH)

Examined the effects of phonological-skill training on consonantal-phoneme deletion and word-reading performance in early and middle adolescent Chinese readers who were literate in English. Found significant improvements in both activities for younger but not older participants, with follow-up analyses suggesting that language-proficiency…

Analyzes measures of language skills of legalized aliens using data from the Legalized Population Survey (LPS) of aliens who received amnesty under the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act. Includes self-assessed overall speaking skills, speaking and reading in specific situations, and perceptions of the impact of language skills on job…

Looks at the washback effect in language testing, using as an example the new University of Michigan Examination for Certificate of Competency (ECCE), designed for intermediate- to upper-intermediate level learners. The ECCE can be considered an example of the movement toward achievement-oriented proficiency tests. (Author/VWL)

Explains why it is difficult for the majority of bilingual-education teachers to develop teacher-like proficiency in Spanish in the context of the United States. Explores the "subtractive" orientation of U.S. society toward bilingualism that favors replacing the native language with English. (SLD)