College and university admissions officers are the gatekeepers who decide which individuals may join the "country club" of higher education. As such, the decisions they make have a significant impact on the lives of individuals, especially those who are willing to travel across the globe and risk living in an unfamiliar country in order…

This commentary provides a critical and historical review of the "Common European Framework of Reference: Learning, Teaching, Assessment" (CEF). It is presented within the context of political and policy issues in Europe, and considers the role that the CEF is likely to play in that context, which is beyond the control of language…

An examination of concerns about and suggestions for revising the ACTFL (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages) Oral Proficiency Guidelines indicates that confirmatory empirical research and determination of the relative absence or presence of components are needed. (CB)

Discusses the drawbacks of using the ACTFL-ETS Provisional Proficiency Guidelines in a university foreign language department. Recommends that reading skill should be measured by depth of understanding and perhaps speed rather than by the kind and number of specific elements of language the reader has failed to "understand." (SED)

Discusses the experience of a committee at the University of Southern California that was formed to implement the university's requirement that foreign languages become a "Skill Level" requirement. This means that the student must meet the requirement by performing at a certain level on a proficiency examination. (SED)

Discusses the purpose of a French-as-a-Second-Language (FSL) placement test designed for students enrolling in FSL at the postsecondary level. The test measures proficiency level in French and consists of three parts: comprehension of a short paragraph, selection of the appropriate statement in a situation, and a fill-in-the-gap part. (JL)

The use by interviewers of a deliberate, prearranged, and consistent overall structure, comprising warm-up, level check, probes, and wind-up, can strengthen the content validity of interview tests. Moreover, the flexibility necessary for elicitation is increased if an established battery of well-structured tasks exists for candidates to perform.…

In part one of a two-part essay, a broad view of foreign language testing and a comprehensive philosophy for meaningful pragmatic tests are advocated. (10 references) (JL)

The sixth-form curriculum and examinations in Northern Ireland and Britain are examined. "A" level modern language examinations represent rigorous intellectual demands, in which the examiner looks for evidence of imagination, creativity, linguistic subtlety, and critical appraisal far beyond the "O" level. For the ablest…

Argues that holistic scoring requires evaluators to suppress their interpretive judgment and treat students' writing differently than in any other situation, based on an analysis of videotaped reader-training sessions for an English Proficiency Essay Exam. (NH)

Discusses using students' native language (L1) versus second language in testing instruments for reading comprehension in the second language (L2) classroom. Students of college-level Spanish were tested under different conditions involving combinations of the L1 and L2. Suggests using open-ended reading comprehension tests if some questions are…

The limitations of objectives tests, the language skills needed for university work, and effective ways of appraising and communicating these skills to the university are discussed. The goals of university English as a second language (ESL) programs is to train international students in the linguistic and academic skills they will need in American…

Current ACTFL (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages) Oral Language Proficiency Guidelines are based on an overly narrow view of communicative language proficiency. However, the guidelines do provide a basis for the development of effective teaching and testing methods. (CB)

Suggests the following methods for improving university-level German language education curricula: reduce skill-development time through immersion programs, adopt Zertifikat Deutsch als Fremdsprache as the proficiency standard for advanced students, and include literature from a variety of liberal arts disciplines in the reading materials for…

Describes the Intensive English Language Testing System test, which is used to assess whether nonnative candidates are ready to study or train in the medium of English. (Author/VWL)