This report describes one segment of the Federal Language Testing Board's Unified Language Testing Plan (ULTP), the validation of speaking proficiency tests in Spanish and English. The ULTP is a project to increase standardization of foreign language proficiency measurement and promote sharing of resources among testing programs in the federal…

This guidebook provides Bosnian, Croatian, and Serbian refugees being resettled in the United States with general information about what they will encounter and the services they can receive in their first months in the country. The book is distributed to overseas processing agencies, refugees overseas who have been approved for U.S. admission,…

This guidebook provides Somali-speaking refugees being resettled in the United States with general information about what they will encounter and the services they can receive in their first months in the country. The book is distributed to overseas processing agencies, refugees overseas who have been approved for U.S. admission, and service…

This guidebook provides French-speaking refugees being resettled in the United States with general information about what they will encounter and the services they can receive in their first months in the country. The book is distributed to overseas processing agencies, refugees overseas who have been approved for U.S. admission, and service…

This guidebook provides Arabic-speaking refugees being resettled in the United States with general information about what they will encounter and the services they can receive in their first months in the country. The book is distributed to overseas processing agencies, refugees overseas who have been approved for U.S. admission, and service…

A study of the importance of foreign language skills to the success of Australia's business and industry in exporting to non-English-speaking countries is reported. The study has three parts. The first describes a telephone survey of 50 Australian companies requesting information on crucial factors in export marketing and employee language needs,…

Guidelines for Hebrew language proficiency are presented in two companion volumes which are identical except that one gives examples of various linguistic forms in Hebrew and the other provides them in Roman script. These guidelines are based on the generic guidelines published in 1986 by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages.…

The growing problem of English mother tongue competence is slowly being recognized by teachers in several disciplines, especially by teachers of translation. In a language degree course such as that at Heriot-Watt University (Edinburgh, Scotland), which specializes in teaching translating and interpreting, a high standard of mother tongue…

Because interest in oral proficiency on the part of foreign language educators has persisted on several fronts, the common problems that teachers face in implementing oral testing are discussed, and possible solutions are offered. The problems discussed include the following: (1) how to find the time; (2) how to develop tests; and (3) how to…

Issues in second language teaching methodology are discussed in light of the concept of proficiency as defined in the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) Proficiency Guidelines. It is proposed that rather than think in terms of identifying one optimal methodology for all second language learners, the profession should be…

An approach to teaching second language learners the pragmatic aspects of communicative competence is discussed. The approach uses analysis of verbal interaction to explain four areas of skill and knowledge related to communicative competence: grammatical competence; sociolinguistic competence; discourse competence; and strategic competence. It…

The International English Language Testing System (IELTS) assesses proficiency in English both generally and for special purposes of non-native English speakers studying, training, or learning English in English-speaking countries. The Speaking subtest of the IELTS measures a candidate's general proficiency in speaking in everyday situations via a…

The scope and sequence for high school English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) instruction outlines the goals, objectives, skills, and assessment techniques for an integrated, holistic curriculum for the ESL program found in most Chicago public high schools. It is not coordinated with specific instructional materials, but designed to be adaptable and…

A study attempted to (1) define acoustically the learner's progress in acquisition of a set of phonological features, specifically interlingual differences in the voice onset time of voiceless stop consonants and the number of taps produced when attempting to produce the Spanish phoneme /r/ (trill); (2) determine if and at what stage of…

This paper reports on a small-scale pilot study further investigating the perceptual development in the acquisition of durational contrasts by different levels of adult English-speakers of Japanese. Four kinds of naturally spoken word-tokens were edited by a synthesizer to generate word-stimuli varying the duration of a certain consonant/vowel…