VALIDATION OF LINGUISTIC AND COMMUNICATIVE ORAL LANGUAGE TESTS FOR SPANISH-ENGLISH BILINGUAL PROGRAMS*

Abstract

The relationship between linguistic competence, or knowledge of grammar, and communica tive competence, or ability to use a language effectively, is of concern in all settings of language teaching. It is important to be aware of the distinction between these constructs because most tests currently used in bilingual programs focus mainly on linguistic competence. This paper reports the development of a communicative competence test and the validation of that test with tests of linguistic and sociolinguistic competence. The tests were developed at Stanford University and administered to a bilingual student population at one high school and two elementary schools in the San Francisco Bay area. The development, administration, and scoring of the tests are described and the results of correlational analysis between linguistic competence tests and communicative competence in English and Spanish are reported. Results of validation of these tests with measures of home language use and school achievement are presented as well. Issues of test validation for bilingual programs are discussed.

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