This study examines how teachers teach English to prepare students for high-stakes English national examination in the Indonesian context. Data were collected from two high-achieving and three low-achieving schools with eleven teachers as the subjects of in-depth interviews and non-participatory classroom observations. The findings reveal that…

This study investigates the combined effects of task-based careful online planning and the storyline structure of a task on second language performance (complexity, accuracy and fluency). Sixty intermediate EFL learners were randomly assigned to four groups (n = 15). Participants were asked to perform two tasks with different degrees of storyline…

This study compares the language learner and test-taking strategies used by Chinese-speaking graduate students when confronted with familiar versus unfamiliar topics in an English multiple-choice format reading comprehension test. Thirty-six participants at a large mid-western university performed three tasks: A content knowledge vocabulary…

The interconnectedness of language and culture in a study abroad environment has long been discussed in study abroad research circles. While some researchers see the relationship as complementary (Kasper & Omori, 2010; Selmeski, 2007), others go further to point out a more complex interrelationship (Kramsch, 2003; Silverstein, 2004; Watson,…

This paper reports on a 10 week vocabulary focused intervention based on the Word Generation program (Snow, 2002, 2010; SERP, 2011) in primary and secondary schools, which demonstrated clear improvements, particularly with students who are EAL/D learners. Teachers across English, Science, Maths and Social Sciences developed professional learning…

English is spoken in five countries as the native language and in numerous other countries as an official language and the language of instruction. In countries where English is the native language, it is taught to speakers of other languages as an additional language to enable them to participate in all domains of life of that country. In many…

This study investigates the effect of instruction on the acquisition of pragmatic routines used in academic discussion, specifically expressions of agreement, disagreement, and clarification. Thirty-seven learners, including an experimental group of 26 students and a control group of 11 students, participated in the study. Five intact classes…

While research suggests that study abroad (SA) benefits second language (L2) oral fluency, its benefits for other domains are less clear, especially for shorterterm programs, which are becoming more common. Additionally, studies investigating the relationship between cognitive capacity and benefits of SA report inconsistent patterns. In light of…

This study addresses the issue of the optimal number of gaps in C-Test passages. An English C-Test battery containing four passages each having 40 blanks was given to 104 undergraduate students of English. The data were entered into SPSS spreadsheet. Out of the complete data with 160 blanks seven additional datasets were constructed. In the first…

Colleges rely on the ACT exam in their admission decisions to increase their ability to differentiate between students likely to succeed and those that have a high risk of under-performing and dropping out. We show that two of the four sub tests of the ACT, English and Mathematics, are highly predictive of positive college outcomes while the other…

Subscores are reported for several operational assessments. Haberman (2008) suggested a method based on classical test theory to determine if the true subscore is predicted better by the corresponding subscore or the total score. Researchers are often interested in learning how different subgroups perform on subtests. Stricker (1993) and…

In aptitude and achievement tests, different response formats are usually used. A fundamental distinction must be made between the class of multiple-choice formats and the constructed response formats. Previous studies have examined the impact of different response formats applying traditional statistical approaches, but these influences can also…

The paper by Wilson and Moore (this volume), based on the Messick Lecture delivered in 2006 at the annual Language Testing Research Colloquium in Melbourne, may present a familiar challenge to some language testers: of reading outside one's comfort zone. The distinctive character of language testing lies in its combination of two primary fields of…

"Language Assessment Quarterly," Volume 6, Issue 3, 2009, is a special issue titled "Cognitive Diagnosis and Q-Matrices in Language Assessment." This special issue is a textbook for cognitive diagnosis, one that language testers can study for many years to come. This article presents the author's reaction on why cognitive diagnosis is necessary.…

Assessing oral proficiency is a real challenge for English language practitioners. Throughout the process of assessing, many features of oral competence are worth given attention by teachers as the assessors. As such, the Malaysian Ministry of Education has urged for another alternative for oral assessment in 2002 with the intention of revamping…