Since the last "TESOL Quarterly" commemorative issue 15 years ago, there have been too many important developments in language testing and assessment for all of them to be discussed in a single article. Therefore, this article focuses on issues that we believe are integrally linked to pedagogic and curriculum concerns of English language teaching.…

Limited research on ESL learners' use of vocabulary in writing prompted our investigation of vocabulary use in composition by secondary school multi-L1 intermediate ESL learners in Greater Vancouver (n = 48). This study showed that though intermediate learners' use of 1,000-2,000-word-level vocabulary tended to remain constant, their productive…

Using various approaches to identify English language learners, several Pacific Region jurisdictions are developing English language proficiency standards and assessments aligned with those standards. Others are working on content standards, including language arts, and have expressed interest in developing English language proficiency standards…

The aim of this study was to find ways to improve online reading and vocabulary learning. Various new types of online reading comprehension and vocabulary development programs and tests were compared in this study to consider how useful they may be for guiding individual or classroom L2 vocabulary instruction. It explored how these programs seek…

This article reports on the Pittsburgh Public Schools Oral Ratings Assessment for Language Students (PPS ORALS) project, a Title VI Foreign Language Assistance Program grant-funded project to create an online testing Software program that makes large-scale oral testing in a world language not only feasible, but also easy to create, administer, and…

It is argued that while task-centered assessment of second language learning has the strong support of teachers and learners, focuses on language as a tool rather than as an end in itself, and fosters learning, there remain some problems with its use. Further work must be done to develop assessment criteria that reflect current theories of…

Many states currently offer bilingual certification or endorsement, encouraging both practicing teachers and prospective teachers to complete their requirements necessary to add this certification on to their regular teaching license. Although these requirements routinely include courses in bilingual education, the "second" language…

A 1987 project to develop materials for computer-assisted instruction in Thai and Indonesian and to train teachers in their use is described. Three different sets of Thai materials based on authentic materials were developed and field tested. One concerned the layout and function of a Thai monastery compound, another was an advanced exercise in…

The guide is designed to assist second language teachers in developing and conducting reliable and valid assessments in their classrooms. A wide range of formal and informal evaluation techniques is discussed, including a number of alternative approaches. An introductory chapter gives an overview of the uses and aims of evaluation and previews the…

This study investigated: (1) whether there is a gender effect in the speech of Japanese learners of English as a Second Language; (2) whether the effect is positive if the interlocutor is female; (3) whether there are associations of gender effect with specific features of speech; and (4) in which linguistic features of learner speech the gender…

Finnish university language centers are responsible for testing the foreign language proficiency of nearly all university students. It is important that students are assigned equitably to courses, including Language for Specific Purposes (LSP) courses. It is also important in LSP teaching for students' needs and opinions to be taken into account,…

Resources and strategies for teachers, administrators, and curriculum specialists working in K-12 English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) programs are presented in this handbook. The book is designed to provide information on the background of ESL programs as well as current information on publications, standards, and special materials. Contents are…

The two-way bilingual language arts portfolio was designed to help teachers, administrators, parents, and others understand the level of language arts development of students in the two-way bilingual program. It was originally conceived as a method of student assessment, to substantiate teachers' observations that students were making significant…

This report presents results of a systematic analysis of an extensive database on study in the former Soviet Union assembled by the American Council of Teachers of Russian (ACTR) over a period of nearly 20 years. The purpose of the report is to document in detail the data used, the analytical strategy and methods employed, and most importantly the…

A set of materials compiled for use in British schools and designed to provide information for students, teachers, administrators, and counselors concerning the relationship between second language knowlege and careers is presented in this packet. It consists of the following items: (1) a collection of essays for teachers on languages and careers,…