Examines the need to keep constant the optic, the framework within which AEI definitions are written. Both the Interagency Language Roundtable Language Skill Level Descriptions and the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages guidelines are revised and more fully specified. (Author/JL)

Examines the dual challenges teachers often face: (1) testing the theoretical assumptions made by the authors of textbooks; and (2) evaluation of achievement tests that have been developed for use with those textbooks. Addresses these issues in the context of the use of an English-as-a-Foreign/Second-Language pronunciation textbook and achievement…

Reports five studies that provide initial insight into the black box of classroom testing. The studies investigate various aspects of perceptions and practices of assessment in the language classroom. (Author/VWL)

Reviews the advantages and disadvantages of computer-based language tests, explores in detail developments in Internet-based testing using the examples of the Test of English as a Foreign Language and DIALANG--an innovative on-line suite of diagnostic tests and self-assessment procedures in 14 European languages--and outlines a research agenda for…

Statistical analysis tools in language testing are described, chiefly classical test theory and item response theory. Computer software for statistical analysis is briefly reviewed and divided into three tiers: commonly available; statistical packages; and specialty software. (Author/VWL)

Discusses how to tackle the problem of determining a meaningful score for yes-no tests used to measure the size of receptive vocabulary. Signal Detection Theory is applied, and a new more accurate index is suggested. (Author/VWL)

Reports findings from a study in two stages to trial tests of vocabulary size in English as an additional language. The first stage trialled the Levels test and the Yes/No test. In the second, the Levels test was used with students aged 13 and 14 years. Results of the tests show a different profile of scores for EAL than occur in typical…

Discusses using students' native language (L1) versus second language in testing instruments for reading comprehension in the second language (L2) classroom. Students of college-level Spanish were tested under different conditions involving combinations of the L1 and L2. Suggests using open-ended reading comprehension tests if some questions are…

Discusses the relationship between the terms psycholinguistics and applied linguistics, and in the process explores key issues in multilingual processing, such as the structure of the bilingual lexicon, language choice in production and perception, and the language mode. (Author/VWL)

Discusses the choice of an English placement test. Suggests that English language screening decisions need to be examined from within the context of a particular institution's situation. Provides questions to be addressed before choosing an appropriate screening device. (Author/VWL)

Anthony Bruton comments on Brown and Hudson's article "The Alternatives in Language Assessment," (v32 n4 Win 1998). Raises questions about some of their definitions and categories and suggests additional items that need to be considered by test takers. Brown and Hudson reply with clarifications of terms and definition of the scope of their paper.…

Addresses the question of whether there are different characteristics and language performance conditions (involving assumed different levels of cognitive demand) associated with different levels of fluency, complexity, or accuracy in test candidate responses. Participants were pre-university students taking English courses. (Author/VWL)

This paper reports early findings from a wider study that sought to test the hypothesis that differences in language use exist between children who have a diagnosis of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and their non-ADHD peers. Twenty-two, 8 to 12 year-old children (11 with a diagnosis of ADHD and 11 matched peers) comprised the…

Background: We investigated the aetiology of language impairment in 579 four-year-old twins with low language performance and their co-twins, members of 160 MZ twin pairs, 131 same-sex DZ pairs and 102 opposite-sex DZ pairs. Methods: Language impairment in 4-year-olds was defined by scores below the 15th percentile on a general factor derived from…

In 1993, the language section of the Swedish Migration Board initiated the production of documents they called "language analyses" to aid in the processing of asylum seekers. Today, 11 years later, 2 privately owned companies in Stockholm produce these documents. These companies have produced language analyses not only for the Swedish…