Research on language planning and policy (LPP) has transcended beyond enacting government-initiated language policy and progressed towards uncovering inherent power relations. The discourse-analytical approach (DA) effectively captures the relation between texts and other elements of social practices. Therefore, this approach has been adopted to…

This article reports a study about how the discourse of standard English exercises disciplinary power in five international scholarships programs. This research interest arises from problematizing the discourse of standard English present in the requisite of proficiency certification through so-called valid tests. Adapting Fairclough's critical…

This book innovatively connects the two fields of oracy and practice-oriented empirical research in English language education. It creates synergies and proposes innovative approaches to the study of oracy in the context of learning and teaching English as a second, additional or foreign language. The book also develops a contemporary and holistic…

Oral Proficiency Interviews (OPIs) are widely used to measure speaking ability in a second or foreign language. The Michigan English Language Assessment Battery (MELAB) Speaking Test is an OPI used for academic and professional purposes around the world. However, little research on this or other OPIs has quantitatively compared test takers' speech…

Data collection methods constitute a major area of concern in interlanguage pragmatics (ILP) research, since there is no easy way to collect the type of data that is relatively 'naturalistic' while at the same time allowing for researcher control. Further, current ILP research also suffers from the shortage of studies making use of self-report…

Examines the widely held assumption that a language interview is a structured conversational exchange. Specifically, the structural organization of 20 audio- and videotaped oral-skills course placement interviews were analyzed for features of conversation and interviews by using conversation analysis techniques. (40 references) (VWL)

Reports the results of a study on the intonation of 18 Mandarin Chinese speakers lecturing in English. The study investigated the hypothesis that the nonnative speakers who were able to use the intonation system of English most effectively would score higher on a global language test. (Author/JL)

A study compared subjective and objective methods of evaluating college students' second-language communicative competence as expressed in their writing. (MSE)

The findings from research on written and oral summarization are discussed under three headings: summarizers' strategies, improving summarizers' performance, and the assessment of summary quality. Objective measures of summary quality used by researchers are described, and ways these measures could be adapted for use in higher education assessment…

The eight papers in this volume, prepared by staff and students of the Institute for Applied Language Studies of Edinburgh University, address a variety of issues in applied linguistics. The papers include: (1) "A Coding System for Analyzing a Spoken Database" (Joan Cutting); (2) "L2 Perceptual Acquisition: The Effect of…

Classroom language has not yet been recognized as an important aspect of foreign language learning and teaching, but it can make a meaningful contribution to language instruction. Providing for teacher training in this field not only implies provision of information and practice, but also involves changing teacher attitudes about the…

This study investigates the validity of second language vocabulary tests, and whether or not test scores accurately reflect the quality of language behavior in real-life situations. It attempts to prove the validity of vocabulary testing by comparing test scores to indices of vocabulary richness in second language production. The student subjects…

Examines the processes employed by subjects in Hong Kong engaged in an English-as-a-Second-Language discourse cloze test. Think-aloud protocols obtained from test-takers indicate the reasoning and strategies employed in selecting items to complete gaps in the cloze passage. Findings reveal the test-taking behavior of the subjects and presents a…

One teacher's experience with traditional language tests suggested that the tests did not reflect the kind of communicative language learning going on in the classroom and might be counterproductive. As a result, an experiment in oral testing was undertaken in which examinees were required to process natural discourse and to relate language to…

This study examined the ways in which adult, Korean, English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) learners performed the "request" speech act, with particular attention to deviations caused by negative transfer. An oral discourse completion test with six request situations was given to three groups of learners; situations varied in terms of the…