A study of the French language learning progress of immigrants to Quebec had four objectives: (1) to identify the functional level of oral French of two groups of immigrants after language training at one of the province's immigrant orientation centers; (2) to verify whether after a six month period of employment the language proficiency level has…

A symposium focusing on problems in the assessment of foreign or second language learning brought seven applied linguists together to discuss three areas of debate: communicative language testing, testing of English for specific purposes, and general language proficiency assessment. In each of these areas, the participants reviewed selected papers…

In discussion of assessment and its applicability to the needs of the Spanish-speaking student population, four types of assessments are presented in the context of the educationally significant testing needed in this area. The focus of this paper is on the use of comprehensive assessment to measure the repertoire of language resources that the…

On the basis of Soviet experience, types of work are sketched which are designed to develop the ability of the learner in dialogue and in group conversations. Russian and English examples illustrate the presentations. (Text is in German.) (IFS/WGA)

Recognizing that school personnel serving limited English proficient students would benefit from objective and valid measures of language assessment, a study viewed the oral language performance of second language learners of English between the ages of six and eight in order to chart the development of selected syntactic structures in their…

The secondary level English proficiency (SLEP) test is a group administered 150 item multiple-test of English language proficiency that includes two subscores and eight different item types. It is designed to assess a foreign student's readiness for English medium instruction at the secondary level. This paper reports on two studies which were…

This paper describes an attempt to follow up the performance of foreign graduate students in the College of Engineering, University of Michigan, and discusses whether the scores they obtained on the Michigan Battery, with special reference to the composition test, predicted success or lack of success in their first term subjects. No significant…

Much progress has been made in foreign language achievement testing during the past twenty years. Formative and summative evaluation have also received much attention. These measures yield information on student mastery of a course of study, student progress in the course, and on the goals and objectives of foreign language instruction itself.…

The following papers on teacher education are presented: (1) "How to Break Out of the Never-Ending Circle of Retraining: A Self-Adjusting Mechanism for the 1980s," by Frank M. Grittner; (2) "Preservice Teacher Education: Some Thoughts for the 1980s," by Elizabeth G. Joiner; and (3) "Inservice Teacher Education: Content and Process," by Helen L.…

The steps in the manual are designed to ensure that developmentally normal limited English proficiency (LEP) students are properly placed and to increase the validity of the special education referral-assessment-placement system. The construct of LEP is explained, and procedures for selecting two language proficiency tests are outlined. Criteria…

The International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) tested the high school populations of a number of foreign countries in English as a foreign language. The test is described and results are reported. A variety of specific findings and their implications for curriculum development in English as a foreign language are…

This is one of ten papers commissioned to investigate research needs and to stimulate planning activities. The paper assumes that the primary current goal of foreiqn/second language instruction in the United States is to produce citizens who have a usable command of one or more languages other than their native language. The implications of this…

This presentation addresses the question of what language experiences are most appropriate for the academic instruction of children who do not speak English as a native language. The question is explored through a reanalysis of data gathered in a previous 6-year study that varied English and Tagalog instruction across grades one through six in 18…

A diagnostic Spanish proficiency exam for a bilingual education teacher preparation program was pilot tested with 38 students, both native and non-native speakers. Other standardized proficiency exams were considered but judged inappropriate. The Modern Language Association Cooperative Foreign Language Proficiency Test: Spanish seemed more useful…