A teacher's interviews with 20 former English-as-a-Second-Language (ESOL) students illustrates ways in which they have adapted to life in the United States and how they have improved, or failed to improve, their English. The subjects' stories are material for the teacher's current classes. (SLD)

Analysis of the use of a cloze-procedure test to measure the English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) proficiency of Japanese college students revealed that the cloze test correlated significantly with an essay test and improved prediction of ESL proficiency, suggesting that carefully constructed cloze tests could be useful in integrative language…

This article discusses some of the challenges that researchers working in the fields of bilingualism and second-language acquisition (SLA) and in the field of language testing face in developing comparable and culturally and cognitively appropriate data collection and language assessment tools for bilingual children from rural minority-language…

The notion of language dominance is often defined in terms of proficiency. We distinguish dominance, as a property of the bilingual mind and a concept of language knowledge, from proficiency, as a concept of language use. We discuss ways in which language dominance may be assessed, with a focus on measures of mean length of utterance (MLU).…

Recently a number of quasi-experimental studies have investigated the potential of a cross-modality transfer of second language competency between real-time, conversational exchange via text and speech (Abrams, 2003; Beauvious, 1998; Kost, 2004; Payne & Whitney, 2002). Payne and Whitney employed Levelt's (1989) model of language production and…

This study tracks the development of cognitive academic language proficiency of 47 academically competent high school ESL learners of differing age on arrival (AOA) who received instructed ESL support and one comparison group of six young arrivals who received little if any ESL support during their educational experiences. Although intake and…

Success at university depends to a large extent on students' ability to read expository texts effectively in order to access and understand information, and study it for exam purposes. An important component of the comprehension process is the reader's ability to connect current information with information mentioned previously. One aspect of this…

This article examines evidence provided by quantitative and qualitative measurement of second language (L2) proficiency by elementary-level learners of French, following participation in a school foreign exchange visit. Based on a study consisting of a controlled analysis of test results from 68 pupils studying French at three secondary schools in…

This article reports on a study of pre-service French immersion teachers who were required to compile second language (L2) portfolios as part of their professional development. Documents included a brief biography of the students' lives as speakers and learners of French; an action plan in which students assessed their L2 proficiency and set…

This research examines three tests commonly used to assess the English oral-language proficiency of students who are English language learners (ELLs): the Language Assessment Scales--Oral, the Woodcock-Munoz Language Survey, and the IDEA Proficiency Test. These tests were given to native English-speaking non-Hispanic White and Hispanic students…

The number of English language learners (ELLs) in early childhood regular and special education services has increased dramatically in the past decade. A survey was conducted with 141 early childhood administrators and teachers to examine their beliefs and practices concerning the special education referral, evaluation, and placement process for…

This study investigated the accuracy order of English relative clauses in the usage of 199 Japanese high school students of English as a foreign language (EFL). Specifically, it looked at: (1) whether the Accessibility Hierarchy conform to the accuracy order by Japanese senior high school students of EFL; and (2) how frequently this population…

This paper examines variables such as linguistic ability in the target language, schemata, and psychological factors affecting the English language reading success or failure of a 31-year-old Thai graduate student in the information system program at a U.S. university. The subject's self-assessment of reading, speaking, and listening in Thai was…

This guide, which is intended for adult basic education (ABE) practitioners in Victoria, Australia, details policies and procedures regarding the conduct of placement assessments of students entering or enrolled in ABE programs. The guide's aims are summarized in the introduction. Discussed in part 1 are the following topics: the content/purposes…

A study compared the rhetoric of letter-writing in English and Japanese, focusing on: (1) relationship between degree of cultural awareness and writing behavior of Japanese students of English as a Second Language (ESL); and (2) relationship of cultural awareness and English proficiency in ESL student writing. Subjects were 120 Japanese college…