This article investigates the strategies that EFL students used and how they adjusted these strategies in response to various listening test tasks. The test tasks involved four forms of listening support: previewing questions, repeated input, background information preparation, and vocabulary instruction. Twenty-two participants were enlisted and…

Listening comprehension has had a long and ever-evolving history. Within the last 100 years, we have seen it progress from analog phonograph recordings, through the audiotape era, and into the digital realm. Questions arise as to how this evolution has proceeded, what pitfalls and accomplishments we have experienced, and where we might envision…

Speech act theory-based, second language pragmatics testing (SLPT) raises test-validation issues owing to a lack of correspondence with empirical conversational data. On the assumption that conversation analysis (CA) provides a more accurate account of language use, it is suggested that CA serve as a more empirically valid basis for SLPT…

This paper is a systematic review of research investigating help options in the different language skills in computer-assisted language learning (CALL). In this review, emerging themes along with is-sues affecting help option research are identified and discussed. We argue that help options in CALL are application resources that do not only seem…

The simple view of reading (SVR) provides a conceptual framework for describing the processes involved when readers comprehend text. Strong evidence for the SVR comes from factor-analytic studies showing dissociations between decoding and comprehension skills. The aim of the present study is to investigate whether predecoding and comprehension…

In this article, the author reviews the TOEFL iBT which is the latest version of the TOEFL, whose history stretches back to 1961. The TOEFL iBT was introduced in the USA, Canada, France, Germany and Italy in late 2005. Currently the TOEFL test is offered in two testing formats: (1) Internet-based testing (iBT); and (2) paper-based testing (PBT).…

This article reviews the multimedia instructional design literature based on cognitive load theory (CLT) in the context of foreign language learning. Multimedia are of particular importance in language learning materials because they incorporate text, image, and sound, thus offering an integrated learning experience of the four language skills…

A study conducted in a magnet school examined whether curricular attractions stressing science, second language acquisition, and use of computers make a difference in how effectively children listen and how well the pupil comprehends what is heard. Subjects were 58 fourth grade students who participated in an enriched curriculum. Data were…

A study was conducted at Nanyang University in Singapore with Chinese-educated students who supposedly received 12 years of instruction in English but who were still deficient in the language. Comprehension of four different English accents were tested, and two tests of measuring aural comprehension were compared. (SW)

Criticizes the standard tests for listening comprehension because the material heard is often of poor quality and only about 20 percent of the questions actually test listening skills. Describes a self-made listening comprehension on Ibsen's "A Doll's House." (SRT)

Analyses of test scores found statistically significant differences between subjects hearing "effective" vs. "ineffective" speaker presentations for both the Brown-Carlsen and STEP listening tests. Results suggest that variables such as speaker presentations positively influence listening test score results. (PD)

Purpose: The extent to which a sentence retains its level of spoken intelligibility relative to other sentences in a list under a variety of difficult listening situations was examined. Method: The strength of this "sentence effect" was studied using the Central Institute for the Deaf Everyday Speech sentences and both generalizability analysis…

Title III of Public Law 107-110 (No Child Left Behind; NCLB) provided for creation of assessments of English language learners (ELLs) and established, through the Enhanced Assessment Grant program, a platform from which four consortia of states developed ELL tests aligned to rigorous statewide content standards. Those four tests (ACCESS for ELLs,…

The purpose of this paper was to discuss the importance of listening and to examine whether or not transcribing utterances in English using the Korean alphabet improved the accuracy in English sentences produced by a group of Korean college students. A total population of 120 students was divided into two groups, control and experiment. The…