Standardized norm-referenced language assessments are used to identify developmental language disorder (DLD) in bicultural Navajo children. However, these assessments do not include normative data for Navajo children, the majority of whom are exposed to both Navajo and English, and consequently the assessments may not reflect their true language…

This longitudinal case study examines reading difficulties identified in Grade 2 and Grade 6 national assessment test (NAT) scores in relation to Grade 9 NAT in Swedish (L1) and English (L2). A norm-referenced screening was used in Grade 2 to assess word reading and reading comprehension. In line with the simple view of reading, four subgroups…

While there is extensive literature on how classroom-based assessment (CBA) can be effectively put into practice, little is known about its implementation in L2 contexts, especially in the young English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) learner context. This study endeavored to investigate teachers' CBA practices and factors that might exert influences…

The purpose of this study was to critically examine the absolute grading system applied to the English section of South Korea's College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT), in a departure from a relative grading system, for the first time in 2017. English language instructors as well as English education researchers have somewhat differing…

Nonword repetition (NWR) tasks represent one assessment tool for Specific Language Impairment (SLI). The use of such tasks has been established and verified for monolingual children. However, the diagnostic accuracy of NWR tasks for bilingual children has had variable results and must address several unique characteristics of this population. Gaps…

According to the big-fish-little-pond (BFLP) model, the self-concept is not only influenced in a positive way by one's own achievement, but also in a negative way by one's relative achievement in comparison with one's immediate peers. This study investigates whether the BFLP effect also holds for second language acquisition. A random sample of…

This study investigates the value of reporting the reading, listening, speaking, and writing section scores for the "TOEFL iBT"® test, focusing on 4 related aspects of the psychometric quality of the TOEFL iBT section scores: reliability of the section scores, dimensionality of the test, presence of distinct score profiles, and the…

This dissertation examined the relationship between language and reading in bilingual English-Arabic children. The dissertation followed a two chapter Review and Research Format. Chapter One presents a review of research that examined the relationship between oral language and reading development in bilingual English-Arabic children. Chapter Two…

The purpose of the study was to examine four questions concerning English Language Learners (ELLs). First, does English Language Learner status impact math scores? Second, does immigrant status favorably contribute to math achievement? Third, what math achievement is possible in other countries where there is multilingualism or high immigrant…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of classroom performance assessment on the EFL students' basic and inferential reading skills. A pretest-posttest quasi-experimental design was employed in the study. The subjects of the study consisted of 64 first-year secondary school students in Menouf Secondary School for Boys at Menoufya…

Second-language (L2) researchers suggest that C-tests, developed as norm-referenced measures for proficiency and placement testing, can be used in L2 vocabulary research. This article illustrates how researchers can use measurement theory for L2 research by weighing validity justifications. A theoretical definition of vocabulary ability is…

Presents approaches to test development analysis, reliability, and validity based on criterion-referenced measurement principles and compares them with norm-referenced approaches in terms of the types of decisions that result from either approach. This is done by using data from an English-as-a-second-language achievement testing project at the…

Ways to use classroom tests as an aid to students of foreign languages are discussed, with particular reference to retesting. (RM)

Discusses problems with the ACTFL/ETS Oral Proficiency Guidelines and examines inconsistencies relating to three assumptions of oral proficiency (OPT)--hours of study, accuracy/interest, and errors. Further, it is argued that the main problems with OPT arise from an analytic approach and the native speaker yardstick. (SED)

Describes three "continuum categories" of language tests and the place of communicative tests in each of the three continuums. The question of what communication involves is discussed and five different approaches to communicative language testing are presented. (SED)