The present study investigated the effects of text-based and audio-based dynamic glosses on L2 vocabulary learning within a sociocultural approach. Dynamic glosses were operationalised as a set of incrementally ordered prompts, provided during text-based and audio-based interactions that guided the participants to identify the meaning of unknown…

The objective of this study was to employ a new tool for assessing pragmatic "proficiency" (over "performance") in L2 students and to determine if pragmatic lessons on compliment sequences had a positive impact on L2 Spanish students' intercultural competence. To this end, students at a Midwestern college engaged in live video…

This article explores ways in which learners' achievements can be assessed and reflected in both the domains of linguistic performance and subject-content learning. The content and language integrated learning (CLIL) approach adopted by the authors is one in which language learning and content learning are truly integrated and where neither…

Using a questionnaire given to oral examiners working in the field, this study investigates the different perspectives that examiners bring to their assessment of conversation on a prepared topic. The oral examination studied consisted of three parts--discussing stimulus material, conversing on a prepared topic and discussing issues of personal…

Presents the results of a study of the reliability of teacher assessment of the oral examination at General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) for Modern Languages. Teachers' opinions of different types of marking criteria were collected through semistructured interviews after each teacher had assessed a tape-recorded free conversation task…