This paper presents a methodology for directly aligning 'can do' frameworks to each other. The methodology, inspired by the manual for relating examinations to the "Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, teaching, assessment" (CEFR) (Council of Europe, 2009) and Kane's (2004, 2013) interpretative argument, takes…

This study explores the impact of professional learning about the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment (CEFR) on second language (L2) teachers' classroom practice. Ninety self-selected French as a second language (FSL) teachers across Canada responded to an online survey about their planning,…

The Portfolio-Based Language Assessment (PBLA) literature explicitly states the suitability of using PBLA in English as an additional language (EAL) learning contexts. An underlying assumption is that it is also suitable for adult learners. This paper tests this assumption by comparing PBLA against the assumptions and principles of andragogy--a…

This article analyzes teacher professional development (PD) mandated by the implementation of portfolio-based language assessment (PBLA) in government-funded adult language learning programs in Canada. Through the lens of conceptualizations of teacher learning (TL), the study examined PBLA teacher-training materials, 247 teacher surveys, and…

This edited book documents practices of learning-oriented language assessment through practitioner research and research syntheses. Learning-oriented language assessment refers to language assessment strategies that capitalise on learner differences and their relationships with the learning environments. In other words, learners are placed at the…

In this article, we establish direct links between language policy on the one hand and assessment in multilingual contexts on the other hand. We illustrate the bi-directional relationship with the examples of the USA, Canada, and the Basque Country. That comparison is placed in the context of the changing views about the use of languages in…

English as an additional language (EAL) learners are increasing in Manitoba. They currently comprise 14% of the grade 1 population (A. Matczuk, personal communication, August 4, 2016), which translates to about three students per classroom. These young learners are "trying to master academic skills, including initial literacy, in a language…

Although earlier research has examined the potential of portfolios as assessment tools, research on the use of portfolios in the context of second-language education in Canada has been limited. The goal of this study was to explore the benefits and challenges of implementing a portfolio-based language assessment (PBLA) model in Language…

In this article, the author discusses issues that have seemed most fundamental--yet perplexing because they are not well or widely understood--for the students who usually take his masters-level course called Second-Language Assessment. These master's students are experienced teachers, mostly of English, but also of other languages such as French…

Given the increasing numbers of ESL students in Canadian classrooms, this study investigated how teachers of mainstream classes assess the written work of ESL students and whether they use different assessment strategies for ESL versus non-ESL students. Interviews were conducted with seven mainstream teachers from a private high school in Ontario.…

University instructors' classroom assessments play a central role in and inevitably influence their teaching and their students' learning. This paper reports on a comparative interview study conducted in a range of three ESL/EFL university contexts in Canada, Hong Kong and China. Six major aspects of ESL/EFL classroom assessment practices were…

This article explores definitions of reading comprehension, research on how reading comprehension is assessed, and issues in assessing the reading comprehension of English language learners (ELLs). By way of illustration, I present aspects of the literacy practices of an intermediate-grade ELL in a suburban school of the Lower Mainland of British…

Proposes that heritage language education research findings in Canada fall within three interpretive frames, involving (1) interdependence, which posits that languages complement each other; (2) narrativity, which suggests that there is a narrative structure to the developing mind; and (3) cognitive enhancement, which posits that language and…

Student assessment plays a central and important role in teaching and learning. Teachers devote a large part of their preparation time to creating instruments and observation procedures, marking, recording, and synthesizing results in informal and formal reports in their daily teaching. A number of studies of the assessment practices used by…

One goal of this longitudinal study was to examine whether the predictors of reading skills in Grade 3 would differ between English as a second language (ESL) students and native English-speaking (L1) students. Phonological processing, syntactic awareness, memory, spelling, word reading, and lexical access skills were assessed in kindergarten and…