One of the most difficult problems facing researchers on writing is to define writing as a construct. The way writing is conceptualized determines how writing assignments are created and how written products are analyzed and rated. A functional approach to defining writing as a construct is presented here. It begins with the overall construct of…

The concepts of language proficiency, limited language proficiency, and comparably limited language proficiency are examined. Studies critical of the instruments used for making assessments according to these concepts are reviewed. The effects of these concepts on proposed legislation involving bilingual education are discussed. It is suggested…

The study of English as a foreign language was especially difficult for socially disadvantaged Israeli students. A program stressing oral communication was designed for disadvantaged students who had two years of traditional English studies. The aural-oral English program proved effective. (BJG)

Describes, using Teaching Unit 7 (Grade 9), the teacher's work in planning and preparing, as well as the designing of the instruction using teaching-aid units. Examples: teaching vocabulary, the development of speaking in dialogue, and teaching grammar. (Text is in German.) (IFS/WGA)

Offers suggestions for teaching precis writing; advocates stressing the value of the activity as language manipulation, its meaningfulness, the language techniques required, its link with composition, and its appropriateness to the advanced level. (MSE)

While the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages' (ACTFL) proficiency guidelines have many proponents, critics find testing according to the guidelines costly and time-consuming. Winthrop College (South Carolina) has developed an approach to testing foreign language majors that tests all skill areas, can be administered using no…

Increasingly, applied linguists have been working with counterpart teachers who are subject-matter specialists to develop innovative programs to integrate the teaching of language and content. In some places, integration of language and content instruction involves implementation of two-way bilingual (interlocking) immersion programs. Such work…

The development and validation of the Spanish-English Verbatim Translation Exam (SEVTE) is described. The test is for use by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the selection of applicants for the positions of Language Specialist or Contract Linguist. The report is divided into eight sections. Section 1 describes the need for the test,…

This document consists of the printed technical documentation that accompanies the English Language Proficiency Study (ELPS) machine-readable data file when obtained from the Bureau of the Census. The ELPS was conducted by the United States Bureau of the Census for the Department of Education to provide materials with which the Department of…

This study criticizes current approaches to language test development for their restrictive views of how language should be measured. Language tests are based either on an input component (what goes into a test) or an output component (how should the test be measured). An integration of both components on language tests is advocated. The…

The effects of different variables on second language acquisition, specifically the effect of parental influence, were tested on the Gardner (1979) model of second language acquisition. Data were obtained from 68 anglophone students in grades 7-10 enrolled in a French immersion program and also from their parents. A factor analysis of parental…

A discussion of the preference structure of repair sequences in conversation argues that the structure varies predictably from one context to the next, based on the interpersonal relationship of the interlocutors. In particular, it is said to depend on the asymmetrical distribution of knowledge among the interlocutors, including knowledge of the…

Efforts to expand the generic language proficiency guidelines of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) to the less commonly taught languages (LCTLs) began when developers realized that the ACTFL guidelines were too Eurocentric; the guidelines included grammatical categories specific to Western European languages and…

The behavior of native English speakers and Japanese English as second language (ESL) learners on word association tasks was investigated. Research has shown that Japanese adults respond in Japanese in an identifiably different way than English speaking adults respond in English, and that native English speaking children demonstrate a…

In this discussion of techniques for teaching and testing listening comprehension according to the Provisional Proficiency Guidelines of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, five questions are addressed: (1) the nature of the relationship between listening and speaking; (2) the kinds of listening tasks that should be…