This study looked at whether prior learning of a lecture topic enhanced performance on the lecture subtests of a content-based listening test. Data was analyzed from 11 lecture subtests from the Test of Listening for Academic Purposes. (JL)

Reports on a study investigating whether a field-specific oral proficiency test would be a better predictor of field-specific performance than a general purpose oral proficiency test. A theoretical discussion is presented on field-specific language testing and guidelines for the construction of oral proficiency tests in specific purpose contexts.…

An experimental study was designed to evaluate the effect on French language proficiency of an integrated, formal, analytic and functional, communicative approach to second-language teaching in French immersion. The study consisted of 315 grade 7 early French immersion students. (28 references) (VWL)

Describes weaknesses of English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) testing methods and argues that many EFL departments set up their own examinations to assess how effectively they are preparing students for those examinations. It is suggested that this leads to production of test items that are biased against divergent students and that an interview…

Examines whether a defect of the C-test can be avoided by constructing a C-test with five texts and 126 items. The test was tried with 146 Iranian English majors. On the basis of item analysis, a tailored C-test with 100 items was developed and tried with 60 other subjects. Results show no gains were made with the classical item analysis.…

Investigates the relationship between language comprehension and language production in Swedish children in a study carried out longitudinally with 10 children with specific language impairment (SLI) and 10 children with unimpaired language development. Results indicate that the relationship between comprehension and production is different at…

Findings are reported from a series of literacy assessments in which four classes of bilingual Grade 3 and Grade 5 students from an indigenous community in Central Mexico participated. Subjects who completed the battery of tests of reading and writing in Spanish and Nahuatl range from balanced bilinguals to Spanish-dominant speakers with at least…

Provides information regarding the input-to-intake phenomenon by exploring data that were gathered but not analyzed in Shook (1994): reading recalls produced by subjects after reading the input passages. Two levels of Spanish students read reading passages containing one of two different target items under one of three different attention…

Explores the nature of formative assessment in a primary language learning context. The research is from nine inner city schools where an early years intervention project is being carried out to address problems of low levels of achievement in English, with specific reference to the language support of learners for whom English is an additional…

Analyzes the everyday academic language proficiency of German-Turkish Bilinguals who grew up in Germany as children of Turkish immigrants and learned German as a second language. Everyday and academic language proficiency was measured with two different C-tests. Scores obtained were compared with those of a control group of Turkish university…

Examines metaphoric competence and its relationship to cognitive style and second language learning and teaching. Describes four measured aspects of metaphoric competence in participants' first and second language: originality of metaphor production; ability to find meaning in metaphor; speed in finding meaning in metaphor; and fluency of metaphor…

Within an evidentiary framework for operationally defining academic English language proficiency (AELP), linguistic analyses of standards, classroom discourse, and textbooks have led to specifications for assessment of AELP. The test development process described here is novel due to the emphasis on using linguistic profiles to inform the …

This paper addresses the issue of whether second language (L2) learners can reset parameters, by testing English speakers learning Spanish on their ability to reset the subjacency and bounding node parameters. The bounding nodes are IP and NP in English and CP and NP in Spanish. Eight American graduate students, highly proficient in the Spanish…

This report describes one segment of the Federal Language Testing Board's Unified Language Testing Plan (ULTP), the validation of speaking proficiency tests in Spanish and English. The ULTP is a project to increase standardization of foreign language proficiency measurement and promote sharing of resources among testing programs in the federal…

Because interest in oral proficiency on the part of foreign language educators has persisted on several fronts, the common problems that teachers face in implementing oral testing are discussed, and possible solutions are offered. The problems discussed include the following: (1) how to find the time; (2) how to develop tests; and (3) how to…