Linear logistic test models (LLTMs), leveraging item response theory and linear regression, offer an elegant method for learning about item characteristics in complex content areas. This study used LLTMs to model single-best-answer, multiple-choice-question response data from two medical subspecialty certification examinations in multiple years…

Inaudible syntactic markers are especially difficult to spell. This paper examines how 455 fourth graders spell silent French plural markers in a dictation with real and pseudowords after one year of formal French instruction (L2). The Generalized Linear Mixed Model analysis shows first that noun plural spelling (real and pseudo) is a strong…

Young people use slang for identifying themselves with a particular social group, gaining social recognition and respect from that group, and expressing their emotional state. One feature of Internet slang is its active use by youth in online communication, which, under certain conditions, may cause problematic Internet use (PIU). We conducted two…

Purpose: This study sought to 1) identify linguistic features important for Chinese text complexity with a theory-based and systematic approach, and 2) address how feature sets and algorithms affect the performance of Chinese text complexity models. Method: Texts from Chinese language arts textbooks from Grades 1 to 6 (N = 1,478) in Mainland China…

This study scrutinized the effects of words' superiority, regularity, frequency and length on the intermediate and advanced EFL learner's visual word recognition. Moreover, it attempted to check whether each of these parameters could be statistically a significant predictor on recognition tasks. Accordingly, 118 intermediate and 127 advanced adult…

Word frequency has a long history of being considered the most important predictor of word difficulty and has served as a guideline for several aspects of second language vocabulary teaching, learning, and assessment. However, recent empirical research has challenged the supremacy of frequency as a predictor of word difficulty. Accordingly,…