Since the initial inquiry into oral proficiency and oral proficiency testing by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) in 1981, the growing interest in this form of testing is evidenced by increased participation in workshops, conference sessions, and training sessions devoted to it. Intensive language programs and an…

The Commander Naval Amphibious School is responsible for the Vietnamese language training of certain naval officer and enlisted personnel who are enroute to assignments in Vietnam. Courses of two and six weeks are offered; they were designed to meet the language needs of river boat crewmen and advisors. The Navy Training Research Laboratory was…

Suggests a quick and practical supplementary test that can solve many of the difficulties of student placement in intensive English programs (IEPs). Dictation is suggested as an easy and efficient way to gain information about students' underlying abilities to communicate. (Author/VWL)

This paper investigates the difference in achievement among 20 University of Utah students of modern standard Arabic. One group of 11 students followed an intensive eight-week summer course, and a second group of nine students studied the same course during a regular academic year. Also reported on is the correlation between achievement and…

This report is a summary of the review of the Defense Language Institute (DLI) that was made by the General Accounting Office (GAO) at the request of a member of Congress. The objectives of the study were to identify and analyze significant internal DLI problems that diminish the overall effectiveness of the language training provided there.…

This article describes the organization, functions, and components of the Defense Language Institute. The test division is responsible for aptitude, achievement, and proficiency tests and for test development in a variety of resident and non-resident programs. The progress that has been made over a 10-year period is also described and special…

A secondary school French immersion program in Montreal is discussed. A research and testing program to evaluate student performance is described. Results show a significant increase in French skills over regular language programs, no decrease in English skills, and no decrease in general academic achievement. (CHK)

Reports of lectures and discussions held at the symposium reflect several primary themes including: (1) examination of the aims, forms, and content of intensive courses for modern language teachers; (2) discussion of reasons for the shortage of modern language teachers; (3) identification of problems which arise with regard to use of audio-visual…

In a variation of the traditional research report, the background and design of a study of second language acquisition are described, but no substantive results are reported. The intent of the report is to stimulate thinking about theory in language testing. Two questions are investigated: What is it that children learn in second language…

The language training program for Peace Corps participants is investigated. The objectives were: to investigate the validity of the Modern Language Aptitude Test (MLAT) for predicting end-of-training Foreign Service Institute (FSI) language proficiency; to discover the relative difficulty of various target languages; to develop tentative…

Explores ways of measuring implicit and explicit second language (L2) knowledge and examines the relationship between these measures and measures of general language proficiency. Factor analysis revealed a two-factor solution, reflecting a clear distinction between measures that incorporated a time constraint and those that did not. (Author/VWL)

Random parallel reading comprehension tests in Japanese and English were administered to a sample of native Japanese students enrolled in intensive English instruction. The students had been placed at three different levels of English language proficiency based on an independent proficiency assessment measure. Evidence for a threshold competency…

This report discusses specific findings of a review of language training and requirements in the Department of Defense. It contains: (1) a letter to the Secretary of Defense from the Office of the Comptroller General of the U.S.; (2) an Appendix giving a description of the Defense Language Institute and an outline of areas that need improvement;…

The lack of authentic, real-world interaction practice in the English as a second language (ESL) classroom is described and discussed, and the ways in which dialogue journals answer this classroom need are detailed. A dialogue journal is an interactive, self-generated, cumulative and functional writing and reading exchange between teacher and…