The ultimate communicative purpose of literature reviews is to convince the reader of the worthiness of the writer's research, which is realized stage by stage and evaluation plays an important role in achieving this end. However, concerns about evaluation demonstration in novice academic writers' literature reviews have been repeatedly voiced in…

Since the implementation of the 2001 curriculum reform and the release of the 2004 college English requirements, learner autonomy has become one of the most important research themes in the field of ELT in China, especially college English, reflecting the tendency of a learner-centered teaching approach. In this paper, I have reviewed 39 studies…

Discusses the importance of fairness in evaluation studies of second-language programs and the potential for misinterpretation of studies which are not program-fair. Strategies designed to overcome this problem from the perspective of standardized tests include: specific tests for each program, program-specific plus program-neutral measures,…

A review of the literature concerning second language program evaluation looks at definitions of program evaluation, approaches taken to it, and the purposes that evaluation has fulfilled. Use of program evaluation to educate those working in or with second-language programs is recommended. (MSE)

The language minority and limited-English-proficient students attending American schools in increasing numbers must be prepared as well as possible for their continued education in the mainstream. This can be begun by implementing mainstreaming procedures that fairly and accurately determine student readiness for learning in the mainstream and…

Proposes a "flexible and systematic framework" for evaluating English for specific purposes programs, including the evaluation of program aims and objectives, materials, methodology, teachers, interaction, students, improvement, and constraints. (CB)

Discusses the evaluation of second and foreign language programs, focusing on whether such evaluations should be summative or formative; use outside experts or program staff; emphasize qualitative or quantitative data; and concentrate on the process or the product. An annotated bibliography discusses six important works in the field. (78…

A handbook designed to acquaint college and university language departments with recent developments in oral proficiency testing gives an overview of the rationale, development, procedures, and implications of oral proficiency evaluation. The discussion is placed in the context of college and university language teaching. An overview section…

A discussion of second language program evaluation focuses on the interpretability of test scores as a criterion in program evaluation. It looks at both test design and research design issues. First, eight method-comparison, program evaluation studies that compare acquisition-based and analysis/practice based methods are described. Acquisition…