This practice article examines the design, implementation and impacts of a collaborative German language learning (LL) field trip in the United States through the conceptual framework of LL and teaching beyond the classroom. We explore the affordances of semi-structured out-of-class experiences in supporting world language students' target…

One of the consequences of globalisation in recent years has been the unprecedented spread of English as the world's lingua franca. This has particular resonance in postcolonial countries, such as Pakistan and Australia, whose histories have been strongly shaped by English colonisers in contrasting ways. Written from the perspective of someone who…

This article reflects on the epistemological steamrolling that the 2021 Ofsted Curriculum Research Review (OCRR) accomplishes: in part, by the positioning of the problem and solution through highly selective cherry-picking (omitting key causal factors); in part, through the discursive move of acknowledging complexity before offering simple and…

This reflective-narrative essay ponders and explains effective strategies employed by the author in his own second language classroom. He cultivated the skills, talents, and ideas of his own students by blending various strategies and methods that clearly define the standards and meet the demands of modern literature education. All situations and…

In this essay, the author argues that English language learners (ELLs) can meet and exceed the Common Core State Standards, and that more complex materials are in fact precisely what they need. Lack of access to such materials is what prevents ELLs from attaining full proficiency in English.

Those who work in second- and foreign-language testing often find Koretz's concern for validity inferences under high-stakes (VIHS) conditions both welcome and familiar. While the focus of the article is more narrowly on the potential for two instructional responses to test-based accountability, "reallocation" and "coaching,"…

The issue of high-stakes testing for teachers has been a debated topic in the larger educational arena for some time now and certainly has the potential to spark a lively argument by language professionals in this "Modern Language Journal (MLJ) Perspectives" venue. In his popular text, "A Rulebook for Arguments" (2009), Weston…

Paul Jablon's "The Synergy of Inquiry" (2014) is well-timed. The 2014 deadline set by No Child Left Behind (NCLB, 2002) for universal student proficiency has come and gone, and according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, "proficiency rates last year were below 50 percent for nearly every racial and ethnic group, in…

Opinions differ on the importance of the native speaker's concept for language teaching and testing. This Commentary maintains that it is important and seeks to explain why. Three types of grammar are distinguished, the individual's, the community's and the human faculty of language. For first language teaching and testing it is the community's…

Brigid Burke is the program coordinator of World Language Education at her university, which is housed in the College of Education and Human Development. Since obtaining this position 4 years ago, she has become most concerned about certain recommendations that were made by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) in 2002,…

In her paper, Burke questions whether top-down proficiency mandates will positively impact teacher practice. Her main argument is the following: The requirement that foreign language (FL) teachers demonstrate an advanced level of proficiency does not guarantee that they will be more effective K-12 FL teachers; on this point, the author agrees with…

Schools struggle to accurately assess nonnative speakers of English using accountability systems that somehow do not capture the complexity of the issues at hand. This article discusses topics surrounding the assessment of English language learners and how these issues have been oversimplified by such processes as the No Child Left Behind…

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…

Examined beliefs of Nebraska foreign language teachers who were involved in the Nebraska foreign language standards frameworks project about foreign language teaching and learning as they related to the processes of standards development. Results indicated that increases in teaching efficacy, professional advocacy, and standards-based conceptions…

Focuses on English dictionaries and their development in second-language-learning contexts, taking the perspective that standards are usually codified in reference grammars, pronouncing dictionaries, and word dictionaries. Presents contemporary discussions of "English" and "Englishes" in Asia, a phenomenon that has come about…