An attempt to test students objectively in a five-part, French, speaking proficiency test is described and discussed. Concrete nouns, abstract words, pronunciation, syntax, and fluency are tested with a combination of tape and picture stimuli. Reliability, validity, and practical questions are raised; and previous aural-oral testing procedures are…

This article, prepared for college majors in foreign languages, offers occupational guidelines and suggestions for further occupational research. An occupational summary, a list of representative job titles related to the language major, representative employers of language majors, and a list of addresses are presented. A listing of foundations…

Recent studies suggest that the language deficiency often attributed to disadvantaged children, especially disadvantaged black children, is not a language deficit so much as a difficulty in dialect switching. The disadvantaged child's language patterns are different from the language patterns of the child from the mainstream of American society. A…

This text contains 50 lessons in Dagbani for the student of Dagbani as a second language. The principal emphasis of the lessons is on developing skills in the spoken language, and study is preferable with a native speaker of Dagbani. The use of English is to be avoided except when absolutely necessary. Because of the attention given to oral…

This guide has been created to accompany the Lancaster, Pa., School District's Bilingual/ESL Reading Assessment Materials. The guide includes reading tests and information about how the tests were made, about how to give and score the tests, and about how to use test results. The tests are designed to help the teacher monitor changes in students'…

The listening comprehension and structure subtests of the Comprehensive English Language Test (CELT) were administered to 211 secondary students from an urban center on Canada's west coast. The subtests appeared to be powerful enough to separate immigrant students of English (Second Language) from Canadian born bilinguals and monolinguals. (EJS)

Presents results of the fourth evaluation of trilingual school programs in French, Hebrew, and English being offered on an experimental basis in several elementary schools in Montreal. (Author/AM)

This article summarizes a study (Odlin 1978) using variable rules analyses to describe the contraction patterns of six Mexican students of English as a second language. (CFM)

The problems associated with using the Educational Testing Service's Test of English as a Foreign Language as a valid indication of English language proficiency are discussed. (HP)

A study was conducted to measure the extent to which three learning strategies--practicing, monitoring and inferencing--affected student performance in three grade 10 (ages 14-15) and three grade 12 (ages 16-17) classes of French as a second language. (Author/HP)

Since foreign language methodology has, in the past fifteen years, included aural-oral skills as well as reading and writing skills, achievement tests for foreign language courses should also include these skills. (Text is in French.) (MLA)

This article discusses the concept of "threshold level" as it applies to second language learning and proficiency. The threshold level is seen as the minimum level of proficiency required to communicate basic needs and to interact successfully. (Text is in French.) (CLK)

This article is to raise questions and stimulate awareness of possible legal ramifications of one level of education being extended to a higher level of education. The Lau v. Nichols decision was chosen. The college administrator needs to be aware of this possibility of extension. (Author)

Reviews the status of and beliefs underlying the process of foreign language oral proficiency testing in the United States, including consideration of academic and nonacademic approaches to testing; the status of foreign language study; the need for foreign language speakers; and the reliability and validity of several tests used to assess foreign…

Two native and one non-native (Japanese) instructors of English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) corrected free compositions written by a Japanese college graduate with a degree in English. Analysis of the corrections revealed marked differences in type and number, with the non-native speaker most frequently indicating difficulty with articles, word…