Foreign Language Command: definition and description

The authors give a critical survey of the model of communicative competence underlying van Ek's Scope and Levels, written for the Council of Europe as a follow‐up of The Threshold Level of 1975‐76. Although generally in favour of van Ek's new approach, the authors find that van Ek's model lacks breadth of definition of strategic competence. This leads to some unclarity and confusion in van Ek's proposals. The authors also regret that van Ek does not allot a greater role to compensatory strategies in the assessment of levels of language command.

     

AN APPLICATION OF STRUCTURAL EQUATION MODELING IN PUBLIC OPINION RESEARCH: CONCEPTUALIZING PUBLIC AND OPINIONS

For some time now, theorists and investigators in the fieldof public opinion have discussed how opinion, public and thecombination of the two into a single term should be conceptualized.With regard to the first concept mentioned, the difference betweenattitude and opinion has been a central focus of dispute. Thisarticle demonstrates how a structural equation model, whereopinions are included as dependent variables, and attitudes,among other relevant variables, as explanatory variables, maycontribute to the discussion. Application of such a model, whichmay be considered the reflection of an attitude and opinionsystem, again forces the researcher to conceptualize the publicinvolved.     

Building for an Experimental Teacher Training Institute

Ubbo Emmius is one of the new teacher training institutes in the Netherlands. It was faced with the problem that a new building had to be designed while the institute was still in an experimental stage. Based on a particular educational philosophy, a number of architectural considerations were formulated for the building to be designed. The result is a building for widely divergent activities. This was achieved by creating spaces of various sizes and facilities. It may be called an multifunctional, flexible building, which, also in the future, can meet the requirements of new developments.