A well-crafted research proposal is a cornerstone of successful academic inquiry, particularly for Master of Arts (MA) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) candidates in fields such as education and TESOL/TEFL (Locke et al., 2010; Punch, 2016). This comprehensive guide provides practical, detailed, and rigorous guidelines for novice researchers at…

The present dissertation sets out to investigate the acquisition of variation in future-time expression by English speakers L2 learners of Spanish in a high school setting. I explore the variable use of the morphological future, the periphrastic future, and the present indicative to express the future time in Spanish by the participants. A total…

One of the most critical steps in the test development process is defining the construct, or the knowledge, skills, or abilities, to be assessed. This foundational step provides the basis for initial assumptions about the meaning of test scores and serves as a reference for subsequent validity research. In this paper, we describe the purpose of…

This article presents the themes that emerge from this Special Issue on language teacher associations (LTAs). I discuss various conceptualizations of LTAs, as well as the different theoretical frameworks which the contributors to the Special Issue use in their analyses. I then focus on some of the ways in which LTAs achieve their mission of…

Language assessment literacy (LAL) has become a critical topic in English language teaching since the late 1990s. Unfortunately, this is mainly due to the fact that so many English language teachers are not assessment literate. In other words, many English language teachers lack the knowledge and skills to write good language tests, evaluate the…

Within the scope of educational testing and assessment, setting standards and creating guidelines as a code of practice provide more prolific and sustainable outcomes. In this sense, internationally accepted and regionally accredited principles are suggested for standardization in language testing and assessment practices. Herein, ILTA guidelines…

This study examined seven Louisiana kindergarten immersion teachers' practices to evaluate students' oral target language production and compare the oral production elicited when different instructional practices were used over a single semester. Three rounds of three 20-minute observations in three different contexts--circle time, direct…

The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) has been increasingly used to inform language policies and teaching practices in Japan. The Japanese Ministry of Education proposed in 2011 that objectives of English curricula at the secondary education level ought to be stated using the "Can do" schemata of the CEFR and…

The renewed national focus on teacher quality and effectiveness has resulted in more rigorous standards that describe the knowledge and skills required of teacher candidates across all disciplines. In the area of foreign languages, three sets of professional standards address the oral proficiency of teachers in the target languages they teach…

With study abroad becoming an integral part of the American higher-education curriculum, home-institution instructors face the challenge of understanding the type and content of learning taking place abroad. We report on a study conducted at a service academy on the U.S. East Coast to examine American college students' cultural learning in the…

Reform-oriented efforts geared toward transformative education and equal educational opportunities for all U.S. school children (regardless of race, gender, or cultural/linguistic background) are underway and advocacy is emerging as an important topic of discussion and debate among language-in-education specialists, applied linguists included. …

This report states the belief of the Task Force that study of the less commonly taught languages is in the national interest and that the study of any foreign language is valuable. Recommendations are given for improving and increasing the study of "strategic" or "critical" languages. (CFM)