The purpose of this study is to understand marginalisation in class because of language use in English-medium instruction (EMI) in Korean higher education and how students experience this marginalisation. The general EMI setting in this study is Korean faculty teaching Korean undergraduate students and some international students in English. The…

Prompted by Taiwanese university students' increasing demand for English proficiency assessment, the absence of a test designed specifically for this demographic subgroup, and the lack of a localized and freely-accessible proficiency measure, this project set out to develop and validate a computerized adaptive English proficiency testing (E-CAT)…

The 2022 Central States Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages was held March 3-5, 2022, in a virtual format. The theme, "Maximizing the Power of Proficiency," is an homage to the important work that world language educators do every day. While each educator brings their own unique strengths and insights to the classroom, they…

Across the United States, students face increasingly high expectations of what they should know and be able to do upon completing high school. However, too few state policies take into consideration how the pathway to graduation may look different for English Learners (ELs), particularly adolescent newcomers who have limited formal education. Many…

Despite the wide implementation of English graduation benchmark policy in Vietnam, students' voices on this one-size-fits-all policy have still been under-researched and under-represented. The purpose of this research, therefore, is twofold. The first is to examine whether any differences actually exist among Northern, Central and Southern…

The first aim of this study was to develop a computer adaptive EFL test (CALT) that assesses test takers' listening and reading proficiency in English with dichotomous items and polytomous testlets. We reported in detail on the development of the CALT, including item banking, determination of suitable item response theory (IRT) models for item…

Fewer than 25% of all states across the United States (18 total) currently require oral proficiency exams for initial foreign language teacher licensure. Of those 18 states, 8 require oral proficiency testing for all world languages certification, 5 for non-Roman based language certification only, and 5 for alternative certification only. The…

Given the raised graduation requirement of the proficiency Enhancement Program (PEP) to attain proficiency levels of "2+," "2+," and "2," the importance of target language use has been highly emphasized across language schools at Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center (DLIFLC). This article discusses some of the challenges associated…

The present study provides an overview of the impact of standardized EFL tests on EFL education in Korea. To achieve this goal, the paper (1) presents the status quo of EFL testing in the Korean context, (2) explores the nature of the EFL tests prevalent in the EFL testing market, and (3) investigates the overwhelming washback effects of EFL tests…

Opinions of foreign language study, as well as attitudes toward specific cultures and languages, influence student motivation and success. The purpose of the present study is to catalogue and report the perceptions and attitudes of recent incoming college students (freshman and transfer students) concerning foreign or second language (L2) study…

Reports a study gauging the average oral proficiency as measured by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) of college students (n=20) studying German at the end of their fourth semester. Discussion centers on reasonable expectations for high school graduation and for college language…

Examines the theoretical and practical issues of exit-control testing, and gives some practical suggestions about possible means of implementing such controls. Delineates the complexity of issues involved in implementing exit standard controls and proposes guidelines for implementation. (Author/VWL)

Reports on the development of a learning package for a newly introduced test in Hong Kong, the Graduating Students' Language Proficiency Assessment (GSLPA)-English. Examines reactions of teachers and students to the learning package during piloting of the materials. (Author/VWL)

The test, multiple choice in form, has no place for oral expression. Other criticisms are given, e.g., that the test seems to rest on a faulty teaching plan, specifically in the sequencing of grammatical problems to be mastered. (Text is in German.) (IFS/WGA)

Proposes, for the oral portion of the final (graduation) examination, the text as basic object, from which a section should be read aloud. A 15-point grading scale is described. Regarding content, performance in "informing,""interpreting and extrapolating," and "evaluating and discussion" are to be graded. (Text is in…