Addresses matters of ethics, standards, and professionalism in language testing. Terminology is defined, and current standards and codes relevant to language testing are reviewed. Personal experiences illustrating the ethical choices faced by professional language testers are provided. (11 references) (Author/CK)

Describes the development and validation of the Portuguese Speaking Test, a simulated oral proficiency interview that uses a semidirect approach to examine proficiency in personal conversation, direction-giving, description, narration, topical discourse, and real-life situations. (CB)

Discusses the need for language-specific versions of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) guidelines, including speaking tests based on the simulated oral proficiency interview; listening/reading comprehension tests with items linked to the ACTFL guidelines and Interagency Language Roundtable skill level descriptions;…

This project extended the application of a model for development of semi-direct tests of oral proficiency, originally developed for Chinese, to a diverse set of less commonly taught languages spanning various language families and representing diverse cultural backgrounds. This second, final report covers development of tests for Hebrew, Hausa,…

The report describes a federally funded study of the application of language proficiency concepts, developed for commonly taught languages, to less commonly taught languages. It summarizes the project's background and origins and the activities of the project, including four separate studies on the feasibility of proficiency-based instruction and…

Outlines research necessary for determining the validity and reliability of Test of Written English, an essay test that directly measures writing ability and complements Test of English-as-a-Foreign-Language's (TOEFL) indirect assessment of writing skills. Research should cover such aspects as construct, criterion-related, concurrent, content, and…

Reports on an alternative approach to the face-to-face interview for eliciting speech samples to evaluate second-language proficiency, discussing the reliability and validity of the Indonesian Speaking Test, an example of the tape-mediated simulated oral proficiency interview method. (18 references)(CB)

Describes a working model used to determine the target language use in a language for specific purpose test project: the Listening Summary Translation Exam in Taiwanese (LSTE/T). The purpose of the LSTE/T was to evaluate the summary translation ability of applicants who want to work as linguists in law enforcement agencies in the United States.…

This paper examines whether individuals who train themselves to score a performance assessment will rate acceptably when compared to known standards. Research on the efficacy of rater self-training materials developed by the Center for Applied Linguistics for the Texas Oral Proficiency Test (TOPT) is examined. Rater self-materials are described…

The ability of the Rasch model computer program BIGSTEPS to perform concurrent calibration and differences in the outcomes between vertical equating using a common item anchoring method and a common item concurrent calibration method was examined. The data for the investigation came from two Chinese language tests that researchers wished to…

The development and validation of a Portuguese oral language test are described. The test consisted of five item types: personal conversation, giving directions, description of picture sequences, topical discourse, and oral task completion based on printed instructions. Three preliminary forms of the test were administered to a group of language…

This report describes the development, construction, and validation of the Preliminary Chinese Proficiency Test (Pre-CPT), a standardized, nationally-normed test of listening and reading comprehension for beginning-level native English-speaking learners of Chinese as a second language. The Pre-CPT was designed as a lower-level version of the…

As bilingual education emerges after the 1974 Lau decision, the additional need to test the language proficiency of bilingual education teachers is recognized. Examination of possible means of validating language proficiency of bilingual education teacher certification candidates shows several alternatives, some desirable and some not. A review of…

An overview of the research needed on the new Test of Written English (TWE), a section of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), looks at research needs in the areas of test validity, test reliability, topic development, and equating. Suggested topics for study include: the uniqueness of the construct measured by the test, in…