Paper presented at the 1973 TESOL Convention in San Juan, Puerto Rico. (HW)

Foreign language tests fall into two classes, according to their purposes. The first class, tests used for the control of instruction, may be achievement or diagnostic tests. The second class of tests, used in the control of a person's career, may be concerned with what the subject can do, or what he should be able to do in the future. The…

Explores the requirements for a general theory of second language learning that accounts both for the fact that people can learn more than one language and for the generalizable individual differences that occur in such learning, and considers the formalization and testing of such a theoretical model. (Author/CB)

Discusses the sociolinguistics of literacy with reference to three examples: the history of Jewish education and attitudes toward literacy, the Rock Point Community School bilingual program, and the Pacific Northwest Indian Reading Program. (EKN)

A critique of a previously published article about artificial intelligence-based models for English-as-a-Second-Language instruction points out the author's failure to distinguish clearly between expert systems and connectionist models. In response, the author attempts to clarify his understanding of the usefulness of the models. (CB)

Introduces a colloquium on the scope and form of a theory of second-language learning. The value of a general theory is argued for, and the relation of theory to practice is considered. (16 references) (JL)