The increasing popularity of self-assessment prompted several scholars to investigate its effectiveness and accuracy in relation to teacher assessment. However, most of these studies focused only on the consistency estimate perspective. Thus, the current study investigated the interrater reliability between self- and teacher assessment of…

Elicited imitation (EI), a short-cut measure of global proficiency in second language (L2) research, requires participants to listen to sentences and repeat them as closely as possible. To support instrument sharing and assessment of L2 proficiency for longitudinal and crosslinguistic research, we created a parallel form of an EI task (EIT) for L2…

In the present study, I examined the effects of rater characteristics, in particular, raters' familiarity with a foreign accent, on the assessment of second language (L2) pronunciation. Forty-three native English-speaking teachers were divided into three groups according to their reported types of familiarity with Korean accents: heritage,…

The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) oral proficiency interview -- computer (OPIc) testing system represents an ambitious effort in language assessment: Assessing oral proficiency in over a dozen languages, on the same scale, from virtually anywhere at any time. Especially for users in contexts where multiple foreign…

Background: Aphasia is characterized by difficulties in connected speech/writing. Aims: To explore the differences between the oral and written description of a picture in individuals with chronic aphasia (IWA) and healthy controls. Descriptions were controlled for productivity, efficiency, grammatical organization, substitution behaviour and…

As a result of the fact that judgments of non-native speech are closely tied to social biases, oral proficiency ratings are susceptible to error because of rater background and social attitudes. In the present study we seek first to estimate the variance attributable to rater background and attitudinal variables on novice raters' assessments of L2…

This book is relevant for language testers, listening researchers, and oral proficiency teachers, in that it explores four broad themes related to the assessment of L2 listening ability: the use of authentic, real-world spoken texts; the effects of different speech varieties of listening inputs; the use of audio-visual texts; and assessing…

While studies have been done to rate the validity and reliability of the Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) and Oral Proficiency Interview-Computer (OPIc) independently, a limited amount of research has analyzed the interexam reliability of these tests, and studies have yet to be conducted comparing the results of Spanish language learners who take…

In the present study we investigated the effect of test format on oral performance in terms of test scores and discourse features (accuracy, fluency, and complexity). Moreover, we explored how the scores obtained on different test formats relate to such features. To this end, 23 Iranian EFL learners participated in three test formats of monologue,…

This article describes the development of new scales for assessing the status of a young child's language comprehension and production. Items and sections on the scales were included to reflect advances in research on language acquisition and impairment. The New Reynell Developmental Language Scales (NRDLS) were trialled on 301 children and then…

Oral language skills are important to consider in school psychology practice, as they are directly tied to many areas of academic functioning. For example, research has demonstrated that oral language skills in early elementary school predict reading comprehension in later grades (Kendeou, van den Broek, White, & Lynch, 2009). With a…

Human raters are normally involved in L2 performance assessment; as a result, rater behavior has been widely investigated to reduce rater effects on test scores and to provide validity arguments. Yet raters' cognition and use of rubrics in their actual rating have rarely been explored qualitatively in L2 speaking assessments. In this study three…

This study attempted to unveil the effect of metadiscourse instruction on the improvement of the speaking ability of Iranian EFL learners. After the administration of a language proficiency test, 34 homogeneous participants were assigned into the experimental and control groups. Then, the two groups were compared on their speaking ability. After…

Attitudes toward a foreign language and the motivation to learn a language have been of interest to many educators and researchers. However, the majority of research has been conducted with language learners. There is a lack of literature concerning the attitudes of teachers and teacher trainees toward the language they are or will be teaching.…

Differences in procedures used by academic institutions and government agencies in administering the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages' Oral Proficiency Interview test are examined, and results and implications of two studies of interrater reliability are discussed. (MSE)