Distractors, the incorrect responses to an item on a multiple-choice test, should be designed to create confusion in the minds of some students and to permit a competent student to be able to see that they are wrong. It is possible, by close scrutiny, to isolate the sources of this confusion and, by looking at a statistical analysis, to find out…

This document reports on the foreign language training offered in the Peace Corps. Following a brief introductory statement, a list of languages taught by the Peace Corps in the years 1961-67 is provided, as well as a brief description of Peace Corps language training methods. Guidelines for language coordinators are outlined, and the approach to…

This paper presents a preliminary model for a table of specifications for Language Curricula Development Center Language Arts materials. Description of the development of the Criterion-Referenced Unit Achievement Tests, including the tests' design, precedes the recommended model. The model categorizes the main components and behaviors of the SCDC…

This guide first points out the difficulty and the lack of reliability involved in using tests to evaluate the abilities of children from linguistically and culturally diverse backgrounds. Suggestions are then given for using existing evaluation techniques to test the English language proficiency of children at kindergarten level. The following…

This publication is a compilation of the papers presented at the 1974 Washington Language Testing Sumposium. The volume also includes much of the discussion that followed each paper. The participants were an international group of language testing specialists from academic institutions, research centers, and government agencies. The primary focus…

This report is a summary of the results of the administration of the Modern Language Association of America (MLA) Proficiency Tests to native speakers in Chile, Columbia, France, German, Italy, and Spain. The notion of a "superior" level of competence in reading, writing, aural comprehension, and speaking a second language is specified…

Four- and six-year language programs emphasizing the development of listening comprehension, speaking, reading, writing, and cultural understanding are outlined in this guide. Major sections cover guiding principles in the development of the foreign language curriculum, teaching techniques, and evaluation. Subclassified materials include coverage…

In an attempt to deal with the current foreign language enrollment and learning problems created by the number of students who discontinue foreign language study after the sixth to eighth grade learning sequence, this pilot study seeks to identify, through the use of the Modern Language Aptitude Test and the Foreign Language Attitude Scale with…

The focus of this conference on the classroom teacher and the dynamics of his professional growth is introduced in the principal address delivered by F. Andre Paquette and is expanded in the four other papers comprising the bulk of this document. The latter include--(1) "The Role of the Teacher in the Dynamics of Continuing Professional…

Intended as a comprehensive introduction to the construction and use of foreign language tests, this book utilizes modern linguistic knowledge as a base for scientific language testing. Major attention in testing is focused on such integrated language skills as auditory and reading comprehension, speaking, writing, translation, and over-all…

This cooperative research project, supported by the Office of Education Bureau of Research, attempts to answer questions on the effectiveness of reading instruction during a sixth grade beginning Spanish program. Major areas studied include: (1) the effects of reading instruction on listening, speaking, and reading skills, (2) the amounts of…

This collection of 50 articles by 45 authors, largely from the United Kingdom and America, serves as an introduction for teachers preparing to teach English as a second or foreign language, or for administrators planning a program of English study as a second language. The readings are grouped in nine sections, each with an overview, according to…

This reader is the first of eight units for a beginning Latin course based on the audiolingual method. Materials in this and successive units embody structural linguistic principles and methods, new vocabulary and basic structures being generated from five kernel sentences by substitution, transformation, and expansion. The unit contains eight…

Proceedings of the Second Stony Brook Workshop are outlined in this paper. Discussions of six sectional meetings are summarized including: (1) pretesting and posttesting; Comprehensive Achievement Monitoring, (2) the role of media, (3) humane grading mini-packers, and flexible granting of credit, (4) individualized instruction: selection,…

The Multilingual Test Development Project, recently completed in Seattle, Washington, has yielded a series of comparable oral proficiency tests in six languages designed for use with elementary school children, K-6. Extensive field-testing of the English, Spanish, Cantonese, Mandarin, Tagalog, and Ilokano tests was conducted with a research sample…