In the realm of language proficiency assessments, the domain description inference and the extrapolation inference are key components of a validity argument. Biber et al.'s description of the lexicogrammatical features of the spoken and written registers in the T2K-SWAL corpus has served as support for the TOEFL iBT test's domain description and…

University education is characterized by the atmosphere and opportunities offered to students to help master new skills, develop existing ones, realize and accept cultural diversity, hence broaden their horizons. Compared to past, students now have numerous alternatives either in the university in their home country or abroad. According to the…

Given the growing importance of English as a lingua franca, this study examines which context (classroom instruction in the students' home country vs. studying abroad in an English-speaking country) better facilitates the acquisition of English by learners of different ages: children, adolescents and adults. Participants (N = 197) completed…

This paper investigates the place of culture in the Tunisian English for the biology curriculum. To this end, the English language materials used were evaluated. The findings suggested that the materials used do not answer students' needs with respect to exponents of communicative functions, appropriate intonation patterns, norms of politeness,…

This experiment investigated whether individual differences in written language proficiency among university students predict the early stages of lexical retrieval tapped by the masked form priming lexical decision task. To separate the contributions of sublexical facilitation and lexical competition to masked form priming, the effects of prime…

Undoubtedly, different learning contexts offer different opportunities for foreign language practice. This article focuses on context effects, and reports on the findings of the "Study Abroad and Language Acquisition" (SALA) project, which has examined in depth the impact of two learning contexts, SA within the European Community Action…

This report presents the "English Language Proficiency" (ELP) and Employability Framework", which has been designed to inform and support higher education institutions' (HEIs) policies and practices on ELP and graduate employability. The "Framework" was developed through a review of the national and international…

An examination of the effectiveness of the use of various computer-based communication tools (commercial computer conferences, bulletin boards, word processors, outline processors, and electronic dictionaries) in developing college students' Spanish proficiency suggested that computers offered potential for enhancing the writing process. (38…

Evaluation of the Russian oral and written proficiency of third-year university students (N=9) suggested a clear relationship between the students' initial oral proficiency ratings and the grammatical accuracy of their written compositions; the lower a student's oral proficiency rating, the greater the average number of written mistakes, and vice…

This study examined first exposures to oral and written English from ages 1-16 years, surveying 212 Ming Chuan University (Taiwan) students. The survey asked about the language spoken at home; age at and context of hearing, reading, writing, and speaking the first English word; experiences with conversations in English; and problems learning…

Examines the effects of a time lag before introducing Chinese characters into the elementary Chinese language curriculum. Results found that college students who were provided a three-week time lag were better able to discriminate phonetically and transcribe unfamiliar Mandarin syllables and were more fluent in spoken Mandarin than students who…

Examined English compositions written from plans in English and Turkish by Turkish university students from two different proficiency levels. The study investigated whether there were differences between plans written in Turkish and English and the resulting compositions that correlate with the topic and proficiency level, and whether there were…

To study the adequacy of the brief oral examination format as a basis for assessing oral skills, the study compared samples of 15-minute oral exams with 3-hour written exam results by the same students. The resultant average size of oral samples was about 77% of that of written samples, with good comparability, leading to useful conclusions about…

Uses the foreign language autobiography to explore the perceptions of a group of adult foreign language learners toward a broad range of issues related to classroom atmosphere and instruction. Qualitative analysis of student writings revealed three categories of data: classroom interaction, perceived level of success, and attributions of success…

Examines the background factors that may be related to the French proficiency development of candidates applying for the foreign and second language teaching option at the University of Ottawa. Candidates have to pass tests of oral and written French, and this study sought to determine what makes a candidate successful on the test. (Author/VWL)