Eric Herman

Assessing French Proficiency with Stories Eric Herman

The stories in the 2nd edition have been revised by a native speaker of French and the 300-word checklist has been updated to reflect the highest frequency 300 words in French. "I put the development of new kinds of tests at the top of the list because of the importance of tests in shaping all that we do and think in the classroom. . . If we teach for communicative competence, we have to test for communicative competence." (Communicative Approach Expert, Sandra J. Savignon, 1976, p. 5). With this guide (same guide as is in Assessing Proficiency in the Classroom) and these French texts, proficiency testing can finally become a common practice in the classroom, which can have widespread effects on how we teach, namely, enabling more communicative language teaching. The book reviews the constructs and terminology of communicative language teaching and testing. The Proficiency Guidelines from the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) are explained, critiqued, and common misinterpretations reviewed. Improved testing methods are discussed and practical tasks recommended. Teachers with a story-based curriculum can test how they teach and everyone can use stories as the starting point for different communicative tasks. In addition to the proficiency guide, the book consists of 30 stories and 30 quizzes. The readings get progressively more challenging. One possible use of the stories is for a speed reading course, thus, the benefits and research of speed reading are included.