Indochinese parents and the Indochinese community tend to avoid participation in school activities and in the process of making decisions for their children's education. Interviews of English-speaking Indochinese community leaders and parents in San Diego, California, found the following factors contributing to this situation: (1) the democratic…

This overview of research focuses on the characteristics of immersion programs in the Ottawa area. These are primary-entry, late-entry (grade 6 or 7), and secondary level bilingual programs. The following matters are treated: tests and testing conditions; comparisons with Canadian Public Service language requirements; comparisons between groups…

This study is based on three sources: (1) an experimental try-out of four oral proficiency testing methods (oral interview, role play, reporting test, and group discussion); (2) an evaluation of the testing methods by a panel of experts; and (3) an analysis of the same testing methods by policy makers. The findings are reported in terms of the…

A study supplementing earlier research by Lalande and Schweckendiek investigated comparisons and correlations obtained from testing a group of 17 university students of German using both the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) and the most recent revision of the examination for the…

A study investigated the bipolar tension/relaxation factors that affect a second language learner's oral proficiency. While the traditional assumption in the field of second language acquisition is that negative attitudes toward communicative interaction naturally predicate low proficiency, the data gathered from 50 subjects studying English as a…

A case study in action research which forms part of the Junior Secondary Education Improvement Project, was designed to enable dissemination and permeation of approaches to comprehension of English to all levels of educational personnel in Botswana (Africa). The work supports the national goal of expanding and improving Junior-Secondary education…

This descriptive study examined practices in three Texas school districts concerning referral, assessment, and placement of limited English proficient (LEP) Hispanic students in programs for the mentally retarded (MR), and their impact on effectiveness of services for the LEP population. Subjects were 61 Hispanic LEP students (grades 2-5) enrolled…

A federally funded project was undertaken at the University of New Hampshire to: (1) determine the feasibility of incorporating specific techniques of oral proficiency evaluation in college-level foreign language courses, (2) create a network of foreign language professors in northern New England colleges and universities trained in the use of…

A theoretical framework that distinguishes the knowledge, or competence, aspect of language proficiency from the skills aspect is outlined, and the factors in the language testing situation that affect performance on language tests are examined. The model is intended for use in assessing the construct validity of tests of language proficiency and…

The development and validation of oral native language tests for Dutch adolescents was conducted for both assessment and curriculum development purposes at the secondary level. The oral language situations tested were the monologue, dialogue, and polylogue or group conversation on a topic. An American inventory of common speech subjects was used…

The commonly-occurring mismatch between second language student and course level, resulting in student boredom or intimidation, is due to overreliance on standardized language tests. These tests emphasize passive skills, such as recognition of grammatical structures and translation, and they ignore the element of communicative competence. As a…

Classical cloze tests have been criticized as unsatisfactory operationalizations of the concept of reduced redundancy and the theory of expectancy grammar. Use of the C-Principle is proposed as an improvement over the classical cloze procedure. Such tests are constructed according to a technique that deletes the second half of every second word in…

Despite much rhetoric, foreign language teacher education lacks a substantial research base. Teacher education programs in general consist of subject-matter coursework, general education requirements, and specialized educational content, domains that have remained relatively unchanged in two decades. However, recent reform movements may have a…

Modifications to the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) Task Force Remedies are suggested with reference to identification of national origin minority students, assessment and educational prescription, staffing, desegregation assurance, and parent involvement. These considerations are addressed in five sections: (1) student identification; (2) program…

Presented in this report are a program description and the results of evaluation of the Basic Bilingual Program implemented at John Bowne High School in New York City during 1980-81. The program provided instruction in English as a Second Language, instruction in Spanish language skills, and bilingual instruction to high school students of limited…