This article details the challenges and best practices of evaluating second language learners for placement into postsecondary Spanish language courses. The literature on testing for placement purposes in second language acquisition and language testing provides a great deal of insight, but language programs must make many decisions as well that…

Concepts of second language proficiency and how proficiency may be assessed have changed considerably over the last 20 years. New notions of validity with respect to the interpretation and uses of test scores have begun to shape discussions about test validity and quality assurance in college world language departments, in government, and in…

Han's (2009, 2013) selective fossilization hypothesis (SFH) claims that L1 markedness and L2 input robustness determine the fossilizability (and learnability) of an L2 feature. To test the validity of the model, a pseudo-longitudinal study was designed in which the errors in the argumentative essays of 52 Iranian EFL learners were identified and…

The College English Test-Spoken English Test is a nationwide spoken English test designed to assess the oral communicative ability of Chinese university and college students who have undertaken compulsory English study at a Chinese university. This article describes the test and evaluates it in terms of reliability, validity, authenticity,…

The role of different types of testing instruments in second language programs is discussed. Knowledge-based tests, including discrete-point and integrative tests are contrasted with direct tests, including the Foreign Service Institute Scale and the Australian Second Language Proficiency Ratings (ASLPR). The ASLPR is described in detail in terms…

In order to more accurately place its intermediate English-as-a-Second-Language students in English courses, Vancouver Community College at King Edward Campus (KEC) developed the Intermediate English Reading Test (IERT). The goal was to create a test of minimum length that would yield scores with the necessary degree of reliability and validity…

An examination of the principles and techniques of oral testing in British university-level final examinations in modern languages discusses: (1) the shortcomings of present oral testing procedures; (2) the theoretical controversy surrounding the design and value of oral proficiency tests, arising from research in English as a second language…

Papers on foreign language education include: "The Message Is the Medium: Using Video Materials To Facilitate Foreign Language Performance" (Thomas J. Garza), which explores the use of this medium to enhance commonly-used non-communicative or text-bound teaching materials; "Product and Process Aspects of NES/EFL Students' Persuasive…