Is it possible to translate an existing test from the source language to a target language and then to empirically link the translated test to the source language standard? Some tests are amenable to translation of their content and some are not. Within tests, some items may be translatable and others may not. Some items may measure meaningful…

This paper describes an exploratory study in which three groups of Latina and Latino high school students, previously identified as "at risk," performed at a level of "giftedness" after an instructional intervention grounded on the theoretical orientations of cultural discontinuity and self-efficacy. A total of 29…

A study sought to acquire new insights into cross-linguistic processing strategies of native English (NE) readers and native Spanish (NS) readers after they read informational texts organized according to preferred writing styles in Spanish. Previous studies suggest that: NS readers will be more efficient processors of embeddedness than NE…

Whether performance assessments can be claimed to be more inclusive than traditional assessments was studied in an investigation of whether a student's perceptions of control can be detected in a performance assessment score. It was hypothesized that students' perceptions of control would show no effect on their scores on an objective test of…

The long-term pattern of language shift from Spanish to English for a national sample (N=428) of Mexican-American sophomores is documented. All students spoke Spanish as a first language and were educated entirely in the United States. The students were participants in diverse bilingual education programs during their elementary years and were…

This paper summarizes main findings from a two-step investigation of the translation of a psychological scale from English into Spanish. The overall purpose of the study was to document the effects of tailoring a scale with etic items (i.e., culturally general items) and emic items (i.e., culture specific items) on the quality of the information.…

Memory-assisting devices used in high school Spanish instruction are described, including strategies in many forms: visuals, sounds, rhythms, rhymes, and actions. Mnemonics for subjunctives include: a suffix-"switching" procedure; a word ("dishes") to remind them of the six verbs not using the first person to form the present subjunctive; a…

A study investigated the types of in-class, speaking-oriented activities that second language learners find anxiety-producing and the types of instructor practices that students perceive as anxiety-reducing. A 4-page questionnaire was administered to 135 university-level students of intensive Spanish and 109 high school students in first- and…

A project called the "Tesosros" (Treasures) Literacy Project matched six Spanish-speaking ESL (English as a Second Language) students, working collaboratively, with an equal number of "at risk" Anglo counterparts from a regular section of grade 11 American Literature at a high school in southeast Michigan. Students came…

Horizontal instruction techniques used to improve reading skills were tested with 63 limited-English-speaking, Spanish-dominant high school students. The students were divided into four groups. Two experimental groups received instruction in how to infer the main idea of a paragraph through sequential lessons in classification skills. Two control…

This paper reports interim fundings of two studies focusing on student responses to learning strategy instruction in first year Japanese, Russian, and Spanish foreign language classrooms. Data were collected from four groups of students: 15 high school students of Japanese, 13 college students of Japanese, 31 high school students of Russian, and…

Standardization methodology was used to analyze omitted responses of Hispanic examinees on the Scholastic Aptitude Test. Study or focal groups were 2,956 Mexican-Americans, 3,230 Puerto Ricans, and 278,009 White test-takers. Results indicate that both Mexican-Americans and Puerto Rican students omitted fewer items than White students of comparable…

A multi-year effort is being made to create a revised Spanish-language version of the Tests of General Educational Development (GED). It is necessary to ensure that the translated, adapted version maintains the same content and performance standards as the original English version. The final linking of the Spanish-language and English versions…

The potential use of interactive videodiscs for teaching foreign languages, and factors to be considered in evaluating such programs, are discussed. Two types of existing programs, developed and used at Brigham Young University, are described: adaptations of existing video material, such as the classic Mexican film "Macario," and free branching…

Self-efficacy and performance variables and technology adoption for secondary distance learning facilitators were studied. Subjects were 107 high school teachers who served as distance facilitators for an introductory Spanish course delivered from Kansas State University to 9 states (Alabama, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana,…