A study of Greek speakers' ability to understand and produce two varieities of codes--Katharevousa (K) and Demotic (D)--is reported. The investigation was undertaken to provide evidence supporting or refuting the Greek government's decision to legislate Demotic as the official language of the country. A sample of 545 informants were tested with a…

A study investigated the retention and loss of school-learned foreign language skills. Subjects were 150 students of Dutch secondary schools with 4 or 6 years of French language instruction and 0, 2, and 4 years of disuse. Nine tests of general language proficiency, listening and reading comprehension, phonology, vocabulary, and grammar were…

Six of 11 papers presented at a symposium on language aptitude testing are included in this document. "Cognitive Abilities in Foreign Language Aptitude: Then and Now" (John B. Carroll) reconsiders language aptitude testing 30 years after publication of the Modern Language Aptitude Test (MLAT). "Preliminary Investigation of the…

Los Angeles Pierce College (LAPC) serves many Extended Opportunity Programs and Services (EOPS) students, most of them refugees, for whom English is a second language. In the past, LAPC provided limited English tutoring based on a conversational approach to supplement the more academically oriented ESL instruction available on campus. In response…

These guidelines provide information about a program implementing State of Illinois legislation whereby school boards are empowered to grant one unit of foreign language credit to students exhibiting proficiency in a language other than English. The guide describes the types of students who are eligible for the program and the procedures for…

Numerous instruments used by school districts to assess language dominance are not designed to determine either language dominance or proficiency. Nor do they yield sufficient data for appropriate program placement. One example of such an instrument is the Del Rio Language Screening Test (DRLST), designed to screen children of three to seven years…

TESTING IS ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE PROGRAMS BECAUSE THE NATURE OF AUDIOLINGUAL TEACHING REQUIRES GREAT AMOUNTS OF FEEDBACK, REINFORCEMENT, AND VERIFICATION. TESTS CAN MEASURE APTITUDE AND ACHIEVEMENT, CAN DIAGNOSE, AND, MOST IMPORTANT, CAN BE AN EFFECTIVE TEACHING TOOL. MANY TEACHING TECHNIQUES ARE EXCELLENT FOR TESTING AND SOME…

This measure is designed to identify, assess, and diagnose the oral language capability of English and Spanish speakers, and to prescribe corrective or improvement activities. Part One provides minimum criteria to identify children who might need training in a second language. Part Two is designed to assess the child's primary or home language and…

English grammar testing practices from the middle school level to the first two years of the bachelor's degree in India are examined, and suggestions for change are presented. Ten to thirty percent of the total marks allotted to question papers in English are set aside for the testing of grammar and usage. It is argued that syllabuses at present…

LANGUAGE PATTERNS OF BALTIMORE FIFTH-GRADERS FROM FOUR DISADVANTAGED, INNER-CITY ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS--TWO WHITE AND TWO NEGRO--AND FROM ONE WHITE MIDDLE-CLASS SUBURBAN SCHOOL WERE EXAMINED (1) TO IDENTIFY SUBGROUPS WHOSE LANGUAGE BEHAVIOR DIFFERS SYSTEMATICALLY FROM EACH OTHER AND FROM STANDARD ENGLISH, (2) TO GATHER INFORMATION ON THE LANGUAGE…

The Richfield, Minnesota, High School Language Arts Department studied the composition skills of 24 classes in grades 10, 11, and 12 to assess (1) improvement in writing skills from each grade level to the next as an indication of the effectiveness of a composition curriculum which emphasized expository writing, a d (2) the effects of lay readers…

An outline is presented of the instructional objectives for Spanish reading measured by the Austin Independent School District's Spanish Criterion Referenced Test (SpCRT). Available in six levels from kindergarten through fifth grade, the test is referenced to the Spanish materials available and the instructional activities for Spanish reading…

This three-part paper consists of: (1) an annotated bibliography of tests for English as a Second Language and for learning ability, (2) a bibliography about second language testing, and (3) a list of ten principles for test construction and administration for those who wish to write their own tests. The bibliographies are not exhaustive, but the…

At this time, there are few readily available tests that measure aural structure abilities in lower-level ESL classes in adult or high school. In the past two years, however, the Ilyin Oral Interview (Newbury House, 1972,76) has been successfully adapted from its one-to-one format to a mass listening test. It is being used in San Francisco Bay…

Spanish students in four inner-city high schools were first tested for conceptual tempo and then given the Test of Oral Proficiency in Spanish (TOPS). It is concluded that speeded and timed tests not only allow impulsive examinees to answer too soon, but often pressure normally reflective examinees to respond impulsively. (EJS)