The usefulness of the grammaticality task as a clinical tool with the language impaired child is discussed by presenting the task as a method of eliciting a language sample. Data are presented supporting the validity of the procedure. (Author/SBH)

The three tests that make up this instrument are designed to assess the oral communication, grammatical fluency, and vocabulary development of students for whom English is a second language. The spoken English test comes in two versions: one with 90 items on a cassette tape, the other with 90 items to be read aloud by the examiner. Each version is…

An evaluation of the t-unit as the basic unit of analysis of second language development in written form argues that despite the t-unit's advantages, the sentence-based analysis is superior for examining syntactic complexity in at least three ways: (1) it better characterizes learner knowledge; (2) it facilitates comparison across learners and…

In an effort to learn at which level of language proficiency English for Special Purposes can be taught effectively to nonnative speakers, 50 students at an electronics institute in Algeria were administered eight tests after a 16-week intensive English course. Four of the tests were of skills in English as a second language (ESL): the grammar…

A study of three grammar consciousness-raising tasks dealing with word order among Japanese university students showed that the tasks successfully promoted both proficiency gains and second-language negotiated interaction in participants. Negotiation quantity was determined by the combination of task features present rather than the nature of the…

One of a series of workplace education modules, this module includes assessment instruments and classroom activities for teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) in the workplace. First, an overview is provided, describing issues unique to teaching ESL in the workplace. Five levels of difficulty are then described for module activities (i.e.,…

The testing of grammar is one of the mainstays of language testing, since it can be argued that a basic knowledge of grammar underlies the ability to use language to express meaning. The most common way of testing grammatical knowledge is the multiple-choice test, and the most common multiple-choice item is one in which the student selects a word…

A description of an English proficiency test illustrates the communicative approach to language testing. The test measures students' ability to identify specific notions, give appropriate responses, use correct grammatical structures and vocabulary, engage in grammatical/spelling/capitalization problem solving, and use task-based material in…

The third of seven booklets on adults with learning disabilities, this manual addresses the evaluation and remediation of oral language difficulties. An assessment section focuses on behaviors and disorders which adult education teachers should look for as well as informal diagnostic tasks in auditory discrimination, grammar, vocabulary, social…

The manual on the teaching of English as a Foreign or Second Language is intended as a practical classroom guide for Peace Corps volunteers. It describes procedures and offers sample exercises and activities for a wide range of listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills (whole-class, small-group, and individual participation), and classroom…

A questionnaire used to elicit from university students their uses for, attitudes about, and problem areas in French vocabulary learning is presented and discussed. In the questionnaire, a series of brief lexical exercises tests understanding of word similarities and commonalities, lexical functions, registers, antonyms, paraphrasing,…

The book is designed to help language teachers write better tests, taking the view that test construction is an exercise in problem-solving, with every teaching situation presenting a different problem that an understanding of the underlying principles of testing can help solve. Examples are given from testing of English as a Second Language…

Testing language skills is difficult, but testing writing, and the writing of students of English as a Second Language, poses two major problems. The first is making decisions about the matter of control, objectivity of the evaluation, and naturalness in the writing test. The second major problem is that, if the test is done in a way that cannot…

It was found that the seemingly greatly increased oral fluency of Middlebury College seniors who had studied in college-sponsored junior year abroad programs did not carry over to written skills or to comprehensive grammatical knowledge. In the oral proficiency interview for Spanish, many returning students had no control of the subjunctive, a key…

This document consists of the two issues of "English Teachers' Journal (Israel)" issued during 1991. Contents include: "Introduction for English Teachers"; "Announcements for Bagrut Teachers and Examiners"; "News from E.T.A.I. (English Teachers' Association of Israel)" (Ephraim Weintroub); "Learning…