Background: An earlier study in a school in England found that a series of brief values affirmation writing exercises, performed over the course of a school year by students aged 11-14, increased the mathematics attainment of students of low socioeconomic status (SES). Aims: This pre-registered follow-up of the original study aims to investigate…

Adverbs require a great deal of effort to be mastered, and even the most advanced users of that language have difficulty in using them correctly (Narita & Sugiura, 2006; Peacock, 2010; Lei, 2012; Leedham & Cai, 2013). The purpose of this study is to find out to what extent relatively high proficiency level EFL learners use different types…

This research inspects the allocation of involvement load to the evaluation component of the involvement load hypothesis, examining how three typical approaches to evaluation (cloze-exercises, sentence-writing, and composition-writing) promote word learning. The results of this research were partially consistent with the predictions of the…

As writing skills have a significant impact on a Law student's ability to successfully complete assessment tasks, it is important to identify early, and refer to appropriate programs, students likely to benefit from language and writing skills support. This article describes in-class exercises developed in the Law School at the University of…

This study investigated the effect of writing task topic on learner performance in a second-language writing test, in this case the Michigan English Language Assessment Battery designed to test proficiency in English as a Second Language. The 64 topics or "prompts" used in the test (offered as pairs of options) were categorized according…

Preparing worksheets is seen as a valuable source of motivation. Various examples are given, for reviewing vocabulary, for exposition of a reading text, and for checking on text comprehension. Using a sample, it is shown how a text can be reconstructed using a multiple-choice procedure. (Text is in German.) (IFS/WGA)

Written examinations are considered to be more searching than oral ones; they are less subject to chance because they give more time to the student for reflection, and they do not favor one type of learner over another. This view is taken even though language is speech before it is writing. While there may be a need for a complementary oral…

Discusses a study designed to verify the validity and effectiveness of the summary as a teaching and testing tool. The subjects were Italian students enrolled in second year French at the university level. (CFM)

It is proposed that a major obstacle for intermediate-level learners of English as a Second Language is the transition from thinking in the native language to thinking in English, that this transition must be made before proceeding from the intermediate level, and that it should begin as early as possible in language training. Early in-class…

This paper, a discussion of the use of written tests to assess second language proficiency and achievement, considers what constitutes a valid writing test task and addresses three questions: (1) To what extent is performance influenced by prior knowledge about the topic? (2) Does it make a difference how the writing task is specified on the test…

This workbook is part of "Contact Canada," a course for teaching English as a second language to adult Francophones. The specific aim of this booklet is to teach the meaningful use of the progressive present tense through comparison and contrast with simple present tense usage. The workbook, which is accompanied by a six-minute animated…

The development and field testing of a proficiency test in English as a Second Language for non-native speakers teaching on Guam is reported. The resulting instrument measures four language skills (listening, reading, writing, and speaking). The listening measure uses natural language that might be heard by a classroom teacher. The reading measure…