The awarding organizations that create and administer high-stakes assessments for beginner-to-low-intermediate 16-year-old learners of French, German, and Spanish in England provide optional topic-driven word lists as guides for teachers and textbook writers. Given that these lists are developed by the awarding organizations, they exert a powerful…

To deal with the problem of subjectivity and multiple variables in the oral evaluations given in French foreign language classes, this study considers three main questions: (1) Which criteria should be evaluated; (2) How should these criteria be evaluated; and (3) What is the role of the institution in the evaluation? (SBR)

Reviews key issues in the debate over the role of grammar in the American Council of Teachers of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) Oral Proficiency Interview and in corresponding proficiency guidelines as well as the debate's potential impact on foreign language curricula. Data describing the grammatical accuracy of 40 interviews at various proficiency…

Presents research rating the speaking proficiency on the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Language Oral Proficiency Interview of 40 college French students at four different levels of study. The data show a significant, positive relationship between level of proficiency and level of study. (Author/CB)

Meaningful and relevant tests of oral competence in foreign languages must address problems impeding communicative competence such as lack of student motivation, unimaginative questions, inhibitive personal questions, and pictorial tests. Examples of test questions are presented in French. (CB)

Addresses the question of mother-tongue education of children, especially in francophone countries of Africa. It seeks to contribute to the debate on the integration of local languages into educational systems in multilingual settings by stressing the opposing cultural messages carried by official and indigenous languages. (Author/JL)

The current status of the teaching of oral and aural skills in university French language courses in Great Britain is examined. A review of survey results finds that French teaching at the university level remains much as it was 20 to 30 years ago despite increasing calls for change, and that more serious attempts at change are found in Scottish…