A description is presented of the teacher training component of the Assessment of Language Proficiency of Bilingual Persons (ALPBP) project that was implemented over a period of 2 years in Tucson (Arizona) and Berkeley (California). The goal of the Tucson section was to provide a forum wherein teachers and administrators could explore the…

A guide for teachers developing a high school Latin curriculum provides a rationale, structure, and method for course planning at four difficulty levels. The approach is based on seven subject matter goals and specific instructional objectives for each, which are appended. The goals are: to help students (1) understand simple Latin syntax; (2)…

This study identifies home environment factors that may contribute to children's academic achievement. The study involved observing and interviewing 59 families of a group of higher achieving and lower achieving fifth and sixth grade students of Puerto Rican descent residing in southeastern urban Pennsylvania. The following factors that may affect…

The South Asian population has emerged as a dynamic and affluent cultural minority in the United States. The 1980 Census, which provides the basis for this report, estimates the number of South Asians at around 400,000, and projections suggest that over one million will have joined the U.S. population by the year 2000. South Asian ethnicity is…

Based on research relating William Perry's scheme of cognitive development to foreign language proficiency, a developmental hypothesis concerning language ability is proposed. This approach suggests that lower developmental stages in the cognitive domain retard the achievement of communicative language proficiency, while higher developmental…

The IDEA Oral Language Proficiency Test (IPT II), an individually-administered measure of speaking and listening proficiency in English as a Second Language designed for secondary school students, is described and discussed. The test consists of 91 items and requires 5-25 minutes to administer. Raw scores are converted to one of seven proficiency…

Current issues in the literature on the testing of linguistic and communicative proficiency are reviewed and discussed in relation to reading comprehension testing. Several theoretical issues in language testing are discussed, including testing purposes and test validity. Areas of concern regarding methods of testing reading comprehension are then…

Three ways of using video cassettes in second language instruction include: commercially produced culture capsules, the "Speakeasy" series from the British Broadcasting Corporation, and videos locally recorded off-air. The advantages of using each of these materials types are outlined, and specific techniques for integrating them into…

Communicative competence is often characterized as an integrated control of language reflected in the speaker's ability to understand and use language appropriately for communication in various situations. The theoretical basis for the communicative competence construct is the anthropological, sociolinguistc, and pragmatic view of language.…

Despite the diversity in syllabus design and teaching methodologies for English as a second language, and for second language instruction in general, communicative proficiency is the underlying common goal. Some of the most influential ideas supporting this trend come from the fields of sociolinguistics, second language acquisition, and second…

Limited-English-proficient (LEP) students who are not sufficiently proficient in English to participate effectively in an English-speaking instructional environment must be identified for placement in an appropriate educational program. Their progress through an instructional program that is designed to improve their acquisition of English…

This paper commends qualitative assessment as a significant alternative to standardized testing to determine language proficiency, placement, and instruction for ethnic first and second language adult learners in postsecondary education. Standardized tests and traditional language curriculum and methodology are rigid in instructional scope and…

First year planning and implementation of the Portland (Oregon) Partial Immersion Program in Spanish--an elementary magnet program providing a total language experience in a multi-cultural setting--were assessed. The program uses both Spanish and English to instruct students; half of the instructional day is conducted in each language. The…

The paper, originally given at a 1986 Ethnic and Multicultural Symposium, reports on the development and use of a screening instrument for use with language minority students. The literature on disproportionate representation of racial and language minorities in special education and the assessment of limited English proficient students is…

The observations of educators and educational research have shown that academic outcomes for minority groups exposed to the same educational programs are different. The phenomenon does not seem to be due to superior intelligence, social class, or length of time in the country. Documented since the mid-1960s, this should be taken into account when…