Panahi and Mohebbi review James Dean Brown's 50-years of research in language testing, curriculum development and research statistics with reference to an impressionistic framework for analysis containing two components with their subcomponents: Annotations (i.e., briefing and implications) and main concepts and themes (i.e., testing and teaching…

The present study attempted to investigate the effects of audio input enhancement on EFL learners' retention of intensifiers. To this end, two research questions were formulated. In order to address these research questions, this study attempted to reject two null hypotheses. Pretest-posttest control group quasi-experimental design was employed to…

The present study aimed at investigating the effect of using collaborative translation tasks (CTTs) for teaching figurative language. The study also sought to explore the perceptions of the learners toward the efficacy of CTTs for learning figurative language through conducting interviews. The participants of the study included 60 English as a…

This study examined the second language (L2) development of adult learners of Spanish at three levels of proficiency during and after a semester of instruction. A fundamental goal was to identify cognitive and psychosocial individual differences (IDs) that can explain between-learner variation over time in order to expand our understanding of the…

Communicative competence is often characterized as an integrated control of language reflected in the speaker's ability to understand and use language appropriately for communication in various situations. The theoretical basis for the communicative competence construct is the anthropological, sociolinguistc, and pragmatic view of language.…

Present school programs place considerable reliance on the results of standardized language tests both as placement and diagnostic devices, yet the validity of these tests is open to question. Certain questions arise in light of current theory and research. To what extent are currently available measuring techniques useful for identifying the…

This discussion of bilingualism and second language learning concerns many linguistic considerations that figure in the problem of language instruction. The author reports on current research and on the ideas of several noted linguists. Topics considered in this study are the goals of the bilingual education program, reasons for becoming…

This paper questions the purpose of testing in second language instruction. Comments are based on an examination of tests used by the Defense Language Institute for students of English as a second language. Two kinds of tests are used: the English Comprehension Level (ECL), used primarily as a basis for setting exit requirements, and "Book…

This book is designed to assist those who work with non-English dominant students by providing resource information relevant to second language teaching and learning. The articles in the series encompass both theory and practical learning techniques in six general topics. Five articles concerning testing are presented in the fourth volume of this…