This chapter continues the focus on learning, but now in the context of schooling. How does a practice approach explain language learning in relationship to language teaching and language testing? In Practice Theory, a foreign language classroom is a site for pedagogical practices and what students learn is how to participate in those practices.…

Studies investigating the possible effects of age at immigration (a proxy for age at onset of second language learning) on second language acquisition among immigrants often explicitly take the effect of length of residence in the destination country (a measure of exposure to opportunities to learn the second language) into account. A third…

Reports on an experiment designed to test the reliability of the cloze procedure in second language testing, specifically as a measure of overall language proficiency, and as a measure whose results are independent of style. (AM)

Tested the Aspect Hypothesis using second-language Japanese data. Two experiments are described. Results of the studies extend the applicability of the Aspect Hypothesis to a non Indo-European language. (Author/JL)

Several theories on bilingualism are studied and compared. (PP)

Investigated the nature of second-language proficiency with respect to its divisibility and components. The correlated-traits and second-order hypotheses were evaluated using 354 students learning English-as-a-Second-Language, a wide range of language proficiency measures, and comfirmatory data-analytic techniques. (36 references) (Author/OD)

Administered a questionnaire focusing on examinees' computer familiarity to 90,000 Test of English as a Foreign Language test takers. A group of 1,200 low-computer-familiar and high-computer-familiar examinees' worked through a computer tutorial and a set of TOEFL test items. Concludes that no evidence exists of an adverse relationship between…

A study to evaluate seven commonly employed reading comprehension testing techniques in terms of predictive validity, difficulty and discriminability is described. (Author/RM)

Discusses whether high levels of skill in one's second language (L2) leads to loss of performance in one's first language (L1). Data are reviewed indicating that a high level of reading skill in L2 may indeed be associated with slower reading in L1. (21 references) (Author/VWL)

Describes a study which examined the reliability, validity, and scalability of a new technique for constructing, administering, and scoring dictation tests to measure second language proficiency. Findings indicate that such tests can be constructed easily by dividing a coherent text into segments of increasing length. (SED)

Presents the results of three studies that support the hypothesis that there are two types of proficiency in second language learning, "compartmentalized control" and "integrated control." Relevance to the Monitor Model and a method of teaching for integration are discussed. (Author/AM)

A study of 220 communication strategies used by 12 Chinese English-as-a-Foreign-Language learners indicated that the frequency, type, and effectiveness of strategies employed by learners varied according to their proficiency level and the language distance between the learners' native and second languages. (28 references) (Author/CB)

Looked at the foreign language vocabulary learning and forgetting in experienced foreign language learners, using a paired-associate training technique in which native-language words were paired with pseudowords. Cognates and concrete words were easier to learn and less susceptible to forgetting than noncognates and abstract words. (Author/VWL)

Reports the results of a study which sought to investigate the validity of the oral interview in testing language proficiency, in particular that of adult students of English as a Second Language. (Author/AM)

Examines perceived competence in a second language (L2) as a function of actual competence and language anxiety. Anglophone college students with varied competency in French completed scales of language anxiety and a modified version of the "can-do" test, which assessed their self-perceptions of competence on 26 French tasks. Findings indicate…