This study introduces the first Arabic Vocabulary Levels Test (Arabic-VLT), created for foreign learners of Arabic. We present compelling evidence to substantiate its validity and reliability. The Arabic-VLT was developed according to five levels, beginning with the most frequently used words (Level 1) to the least frequently used ones (Level 5),…

This book highlights the roles of several individual difference (ID) variables on the language learning process, exploring them from both the students' and the teachers' perspectives. It presents the results of a large-scale, mixed-methods investigation which was conducted with secondary school pupils and their teachers in Hungary. The…

This paper examines learners' fluency development in L2 silent reading rate and comprehension. In both L1 and L2 readings, a positive relationship between readers' silent reading rate and comprehension has not been as firmly established as theories might propose. Based on Wallot et al. (2014), the paper indicates the need to look at readers'…

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of teachers' individual characteristics and perceptions of environmental factors on the extent of technology integration into EFL (English as a Foreign Language) classrooms. To this end, a national survey examining EFL teachers' perceptions was conducted at Qatari Independent Schools. A total of…

Oral language skills are important to consider in school psychology practice, as they are directly tied to many areas of academic functioning. For example, research has demonstrated that oral language skills in early elementary school predict reading comprehension in later grades (Kendeou, van den Broek, White, & Lynch, 2009). With a…

Background: Chronotype refers to individuals' preference for morning or evening activities. Its two dimensions (morningness and eveningness) are related to a number of academic outcomes. Aims: The main goal of the study was to investigate the incremental validity of chronotype as a predictor of academic achievement after controlling for a number…

A study of advanced English learners' use or avoidance of English idioms is described. The investigation looked at whether the subjects would attempt to use English idioms in a translation task containing idioms, or would instead use non-idiomatic synonyms or paraphrase. It also looked at which idioms are used and which are avoided: those that are…

This is the second in a series of briefs summarizing findings from the newest and most rigorous research related to racial and socioeconomic diversity in public schools. The studies on which this brief is based were published recently in three special issues of the peer-reviewed journal, "Teachers College Record," edited by Professors…

An item discriminability study of the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills Language Skills tests identified test items that are robust discriminators, psychometrically capable of separating low scorers from higher scorers in the language tests battery. The analysis was conducted by calculating a point-biserial correlation for each item on the four language…

A Dutch study of the relationship between different student cognitive styles and foreign language achievement focused on the development and analysis of a grammar test for English as a second language. The test consists of ten subtests requiring the student to manipulate aspects of English syntactic, morphosyntactic, and morphological structure.…

A study compared subjective and objective methods of evaluating college students' second-language communicative competence as expressed in their writing. (MSE)

Thirty-six children, aged four-five, completed four vocabulary measures: Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised, Picture Vocabulary subtest of the Test of Oral Language Development, Expressive One-Word Picture Vocabulary Test, and Receptive One-Word Picture Vocabulary Test. Only moderate correlations were found among these tests, implying that a…

Question development in English as a second language in four native Spanish-speaking children is described. The English questions initiated by four children differing in English proficiency (two limited English speaking and two fluent English speaking) were examined at two points in time to determine how question use changes in the syntactic,…

Linguistics can make major contributions to the undergraduate liberal arts curriculum, as exemplified in the relationship between linguistics and the English curriculum. The major points of contact between English and linguistics are the areas of stylistics and poetics. In the study of English, linguistics can enrich descriptions of texture…

Research indicates that four criteria should be considered in developing methods for teaching learning strategies to foreign language students: explicitness of purpose; content; evaluation; and integration of learner training with language training. Five English as a second language settings using learner training activities are described. (CB)