Discusses approaches to the standardized assessment of content knowledge for English language learners (ELLS), including testing in the students' first language, the use of test accommodations, and measuring growth in English as an alternative for accountability until student control of English is sufficient to assure validity of test scores.…

In this article, the authors report select results of a national survey of state requirements and recommendations regarding identification and reclassification of English Language Learners (ELLs) conducted in academic year 2001-2002, called the "Survey of State Policies for Identification and Reclassification of Limited English Proficient…

Visual information from the face is an integral part of speech perception. Additionally, orthography can play a role in disambiguating the speech signal in nonnative speech. This study investigates the effect of audiovisual speech information and orthography on nonnative speech. Particularly, orthographic depth is of interest. Turkish transparent…

Over the past fifteen years or so examiner input in oral proficiency interviews has provided a constant topic of discussion within language assessment quarters. Despite the attention received, the precise nature of such input remains largely elusive, as does its relationship to test-taker performance and its assessment. The aim of this paper is to…

The authors argue that English language learner (ELL) language assessment policy and poor language tests partly account for ELLs' disproportionate representation in special education. Previous research indicates that many states routinely assess ELLs' first language (L1) at initial enrollment and that ELLs identified as limited in both languages…

Purpose: The assumption that children with language impairment will receive low scores on standardized tests, and therefore that low scores will accurately identify these children, is examined through a review of data in the manuals of tests that are intended for use in identifying such children. Method: Data from 43 commercially available tests…

This observation study examined the nonverbal behavior of anxious and nonanxious foreign language learners during a videotaped oral foreign language exam. Focusing primarily on the kinesic signals found in facial expressions, gazing behavior, body movement and gesture, and posture, it was discovered that anxious learners manifested limited facial…

Recent developments in cognitive linguistics have highlighted the importance as well as the ubiquity of metaphor in language. Despite this, the ability of second language learners to use metaphors is often still not seen as a core ability. In this paper, we take a model of communicative competence that has been widely influential in both language…

Background: Although a number of studies have been conducted on normal acquisition in French, systematic methods for analysis of French and normative group data have been lacking. Aims: To develop a systematic method for the analysis of language samples in Quebec French, and to provide preliminary normative data on early lexical and syntactic…

This article is concerned with those literacy (language) practices the examinations require to be rehearsed as evidence of successful literacy in three sites, namely Afrikaans, English and Zulu Matriculation examinations in KwaZulu-Natal in November 1990. It presents a contrastive analysis of aspects of the Afrikaans, English and Zulu examinations…

With the growing demand for and use of computer-based language tests (CBLTs) comes the need for clear guidelines to help educators as they attempt to select appropriate tests to assess their students with respect to their second- and foreign-language (L2/FL) teaching-learning goals. The purpose of this article is to provide guidelines to educators…

This article presents an interview with Dr. John Bissell Carroll, who was considered by many to be the premier psychologist in the 20th century in terms of contributions to educational linguistics. In retrospect, this occasion has very special significance, as it was one of the last interviews that Dr. Carroll granted near the end of his…

Starting from the premise that the teaching profession tends to view formal assessment procedures with some misgivings, the following article attempts to develop the argument that the problem is, at least in part, one of too narrow a perspective. A case study is first described involving the trialling of a vocabulary test at a language teaching…

This paper discusses the use of concordances in the classroom, with particular reference to the pedagogical implications of the differences between parallel and monolingual concordances. Examples are given of using the two kinds of concordances in activities that involve language production, reception, correction, and testing. It is concluded that…

This article argues that recent changes in both users and uses of English have become so far-reaching that a major rethink of English language teaching (ELT) goals is called for. It goes on to claim, however, that this will first require a substantial overhaul of English language testing, given that teachers and learners alike will be reluctant to…