This paper will highlight successful teaching techniques used in class in teaching the Malay Language 1 course in Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM). The course is to equip foreign students for their studies and also as means of basic communication with the locals in Malaysia. In Malaysia, the emphasis in Malay language teaching are focused to…

The research examined the impact on teachers of the grammar element of a new statutory test in Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar (SPaG) in primary schools in England. The research aimed to evaluate the nature and the extent of changes to the teaching of grammar and to wider literacy teaching since the introduction of the test in 2013. The research…

This article investigates ways to improve the assessment of English learner students' English language proficiency given the current movement of creating next-generation English language proficiency assessments in the Common Core era. In particular, this article discusses the integration of scaffolding strategies, which are prevalently utilized as…

The goal of this study was to explore the relationship between morphological awareness and the spelling of morphemes and morphologically complex words among 75 third- and fourth-grade Francophone students of low socio-economic status. To reach this objective, we administered a dictation comprised of morphologically complex words with prefixes,…

Entry to the teaching career in most education systems nowadays is based on academic qualifications and professional credentials. The requirements and trainings for teachers of English vary in different regions and countries. This short review presents the professional preparation of pre-service teachers of English and the English language…

Introduction: Nowadays, one of the most important questions in teaching and learning involves increasing the degree of students' engagement in learning. According to Astin's Theory of Student engagement, the best learning environment is one in which it is possible to increase students' engagement. The current study investigates the influences that…

The current focus on assessing "college and career readiness" raises an empirical question: How do high school tests compare with college admissions tests in predicting performance in college? We explored this using data from the City University of New York and public colleges in Kentucky. These two systems differ in the choice of…

Instructional and decision-making practices for English learners (ELs) with disabilities are garnering increased attention as the number of these students increases across the U.S. Although many critical educational decisions are made for these students, the determination that an EL with disabilities should be reclassified and exited from services…

The Houston Independent School District offers two different English as a Second Language (ESL) programs for students whose native language is not English and who need to develop and enhance their English language skills (English Language Learners, or ELLs). The Content-Based ESL model (CB-ESL) consists of an intensive program of English…

The present study focused on assessing the speaking test of IELTS. The assessment discussed both positive aspects and weaknesses in IELTS speaking module. The researchers had also suggested some possible measures for the improvement in IELTS speaking test and increasing its validity and reliability. The researchers had analysed and assessed IELTS…

This article presents a number of issues on the topic of Language for Specific Purposes (LSP) testing that were raised during a plenary discussion at the 30th annual Language Testing Forum. The comments particularly focused on (a) past and current conceptualizations and categorizations of LSP tests, (b) tensions between specificity and…

Content validation is a crucial, but often neglected, component of good test development. In the present study, content validity evidence was collected to determine the degree to which elements (e.g., grammatical structures, items, picture responses, administration, and scoring instructions) of the Comprehension of Written Grammar (CWG) test are…

This paper recapitulates the aims of the CEFR and highlights three aspects of good practice in exploiting it: firstly, taking as a starting point the real-world language ability that is the aim of all modern language learners; secondly, the exploitation of good descriptors as transparent learning objectives in order to involve and empower the…

This article reports on two presentations from the TCCRISLS 2014 which address a newly emerging area of inquiry--the interface between (LOA) and large-scale summative assessments. The surveyed papers propose that LOA should be introduced into summative testing to help test-takers to demonstrate their best performance. This article also makes links…

With a growing population of heritage language speakers in the United States and an increasing enrollment of heritage language learners (HLLs) in language classrooms (Beaudrie & Ducar, 2012; Carreira & Kagan, 2011), heritage language (HL) education has become a special concern within the language acquisition research community. Although…