The purpose of this research was to examine the validity of the 55-item Revised Token Test (RTT) and to compare traditional and Rasch-based scores in their ability to detect group differences and change over time. The 55-item RTT was administered to 108 left- and right-hemisphere stroke survivors, and the data were submitted to Rasch analysis.…

For many years (1995-2002), the Department of English of the University of Blida witnessed low rates of academic achievement of students preparing an English Degree. An analysis of the second year students' course grades in academic years 1999-2000 and 2000-2001 and data from a preliminary survey with some teachers reflected signs that the…

This article revisits a question posed by Hyland [(1997). Is EAP necessary? A survey of Hong Kong undergraduates. "Asian Journal of English Language Teaching, 7," 77-99] in the Hong Kong higher education context: Is EAP necessary? The article presents the overall findings of a large-scale, multi-faceted investigation into the language…

Recently arrived English as a second language (ESL) students were compared to their unilingual and multilingual Canadian-born peers on measures of French proficiency. All of the participants were enrolled in secondary core French (CF)--the ESL students were studying introductory French, whereas the Canadian-born students were in Grade 9 CF, their…

According to Gough and Tunmer (1986), in a "Simple View of Reading" (SVR), Reading comprehension (RC) = Decoding (D) x Linguistic Comprehension (C). To further evaluate this model, this paper describes an exploratory study of the performance of 60 university students, the majority of whom received academic accommodations at university to…

This article puts forward a project approach and a set of solutions to better prepare foreign students wishing to enter engineering schools in France. It focuses on how we train students to understand scientific presentations through intensive listening comprehension. Within this framework, it proposes a new educational ICT model that is original…

This study sought to determine the extent of the serial position effect in listening to French and to specify the relationship between problem areas in listening to French and the position effect. The study addressed three hypotheses relative to the serial position effect and listening to French: (1) Was there a significant difference between the…

Criticisms of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) have included speculation that the listening test places too much burden on short-term memory as compared with comprehension, that a knowledge of reading is required to respond successfully, and that many items appear to require mere recall and matching rather than higher-order…

This study examined the relation of performance on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) to a widely used variant of the cloze procedure, the multiple choice (MC) cloze method. Examinees taking an operational TOEFL (n=11,290) were given three basic sections of the test along with a section containing prepared MC cloze items, and…

A study investigated the role of pragmatics, the factors that govern choice of language in social interaction, on interpretation of elliptical verb phrases (VPs) in spoken English by learners of English as a Second Language (ESL). Ellipsis requires the listener to recall the surface form of a presupposed element and to integrate it into the…

Learning strategies are the steps taken to facilitate acquisition, storage, retrieval, and use of information. Although this process is common to all learners, researchers have found that good second language learners consciously use appropriate language strategies. Strategies are identified in these broad categories: cognitive; memory;…

The role of item response theory (IRT) in determining the validity of second language tests is examined in the case of one specific test, the listening subtest of the Occupational English Test (OET), used in Australia to measure the language skills of non-native English-speaking health professionals. First, the listening subtest is described. Then…

To determine if performance on short term auditory memory tasks is influenced by reading ability or sex differences, 62 third grade reading students (16 above average boys, 16 above average girls, 16 below average boys, and 14 below average girls) were administered four memory tests--memory for consonant names, memory for words, memory for…

To meet the needs of industry a variety of communications courses have been designed to improve the speaking and writing skills of pre-professional students. Unfortunately, such courses stress the quality of message production in the business setting while neglecting to emphasize properly the equivalent need for strong reception and comprehension…

A study of the relationship of request comprehension with context and experience with the language is reported. Sixty-two East Asian non-native English speaking students from China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan were presented with seemingly spontaneous indirect requests during a taped interview. Their ability to respond appropriately to the…