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)

Examines evidence for the presence or absence of one Universal Grammar principle, subjacency, in the grammars of groups of proficient nonnative (Korean, Chinese, Indonesian, Dutch) speakers of English. Results found that, although all subjects were able to correctly judge grammatical sentences, only the Dutch subjects were able to correctly judge…

While a broad range of tests is available for second language testing, two of the basic approaches are developmental and non-developmental testing. The former is based on psycholinguistic evidence that language development is systematic, with all learners progressing through the same stages. The latter includes content selected in an ad hoc…