A study of 12 Korean immigrant children, aged seven-and-a-half to 12, found significant positive correlations among level of self-concept, degree of language proficiency, and school adaptation and achievement. (Author/MJL)

A faculty member's experiment to test the hypothesis that choice of an academic major is related to a student's ease in written and aural skills in a foreign language is described. Majors were given values according to their aural or analytical characteristics, and correlated with achievement. No significant relationship was found. (MSE)

Notes that children who speak little or no English are often placed in regular classrooms without benefit of help from bilingual programs. Offers ideas classroom teachers can use in helping these children learn to read. (FL)

Gives an overview of the development and testing of an interview instrument used by teachers of English as a second language to assess the oral proficiency of nonnative speakers. (The actual instrument is reprinted in the article that follows this one). (SK)

The ranking of acceptability accorded by 316 young native English-speaking and bilingual adults to the 11 most common morphological errors of nonnative speakers of English are correlated with the age, sex, linguistic sophistication, and bilingual status of the native speakers. (PMJ)

Discusses four possible purposes of bilingual education in local settings: (1) bilingual education is more equitable for language minority children; (2) bilingual education is more effective in teaching English; (3) bilingual education promotes minority group bilingualism; and (4) bilingual education helps attain bilingualism for all children.…

Presents evidence of generalizations concerning the relationship between age, rate, and eventual attainment in second language acquisition: (1) adults proceed faster than children in early stages, (2) older children acquire second language faster than younger children, and (3) acquirers exposed to second languages during childhood achieve higher…

Ten colleges and universities and the Educational Testing Service participated in a project that involved testing the Foreign Service Institute's French and Spanish oral proficiency test for possible academic applicability. (AM)

Presents a German test for English students. Errors in the placing of "nicht" are examined and categorized. Criticism of the objectivity of the findings are examined. The tests are seen as a measure of oral skills. Study is recommended of how to present most economically the various items. (IFS/WGA)

This article discusses the section of the final examination used at a regional training center in French language and literature in Morocco. The linguistics task is in the form of two tests containing language errors which an examination candidate is required to find, correct, and explain. (Text is in French.) (CLK)

Identifies characteristics of an effective language teacher (ELT) as perceived by both language teachers and students in the Israeli educational system. Various characteristics of an ELT were identified, such as the teacher's command of the target language; his or her ability to organize, explain, and clarify; and his or her ability to arouse and…

Argues that language tests employing methods not fair to all test takers are unethical. Ways of reducing sources of unfairness in language testing is discussed. (15 references) (Author/CK)

Examines the relationship between anxiety and native-language skill and foreign-language aptitude measures among high school foreign-language learners using the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS). Findings suggest that skill in one's native language may affect aptitude for learning a foreign language and that the FLCAS may provide an…

Explores the feasibility of native speaker performance criterion for validating tests for nonnative speakers. The article analyzes the results of a cloze test administered to 202 Americans and 323 students of English as a Foreign Language. Findings suggest that the efficacy of the cloze procedure is in question more than ever before. (72…

Discusses a collaboration in the design and implementation of student portfolios to examine growth in foreign-language proficiency. Analysis of the portfolios showed that many factors should be considered by teachers in deciding on contents and objectives of the portfolios. (Author/JL)