One of the critiques of proficiency as defined by scales, such as that of ACTFL, is its lack of grounding in linguistic realities. Measures of complexity, accuracy, and fluency provide a route in which proficiency can be quantitatively measured by identifying linguistic correlates (see Brown et al., 2017; Long et al., 2012). This project aimed to…

The purpose of this study is to determine the errors in case markers in the texts formed by Syrian students, who learn Turkish as a foreign language. The study group of this research, which is designed as a case study, comprises of a total of 60 Syrian students in A1 and A2 level, studying in the temporary education center of Al-Nassaj, which is…

Our paper aims at analysing the linguistic "features" produced by Arabic learners of Italian as a foreign language. There are published studies of common errors for Arab students of Italian (Della Puppa, 2006; Giacalone Ramat et al., 2001). However, this study introduces the standardized language assessment, namely the CILS test of…

The article introduces learners between two age groups: childhood and adulthood. The aim of the author is to analyse the writing skills of French primary school learners--mostly 14 years old--and to determine which descriptors could be used to assess them. The article begins with a presentation of the learners' characteristics and continues with a…

It is widely assumed that the British are poorer modern foreign language (MFL) learners than their fellow Europeans. Motivation has often been seen as the main cause of this perceived disparity in language learning success. However, there have also been suggestions that curricular and pedagogical factors may play a part. This article reports a…

This research describes a method applied at a U.S. university in a third-year Russian language course designed to facilitate Advanced and Superior second language writing proficiency through the forum of argumentation and debate. Participants had extensive informal language experience living in a Russian-speaking country but comparatively little…

The purpose of the study is to provide a guideline for the pedagogical approaches to teach Thai students the grammar of the Chinese adverbs "zai" and "you". Questionnaire results revealed that the reasons for the misuse of "zai" and "you" by Thai university students can be classified into three causes: (1) "zai" and "you" suggest repeatedness and…