Examines the use the Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI), and provides evidence that the OPI can be used comfortably for such purposes as assigning oral skill grades, especially if examiners are trained to differentiate within levels and if scores are calibrated using a graduated scale. (GLR)

Provides reactions to an article, "The Relative Contribution of L2 Language Proficiency and L1 Reading Ability to L2 Reading Performance: A Test of the Threshold Hypothesis in an EFL Context" published in an earlier issue of this journal (v31 n4). The authors of the article respond to these reactions. (Author/VWL)

Proposes a translation framework to be used in the Spanish foreign-language classroom as a supplementary teaching technique. The use of translation techniques in the classroom can bridge the gap between language and culture by helping students develop metalinguistic skills that bring them to a higher level of awareness about the target language…

Provides an overview of current literature that explores the growth of language proficiency among students who have spent time abroad and includes a descriptive linguistic profile of students who have studied abroad. (Author/VWL)

Demonstrates the need for a more democratic and pluralist model of reader that may take into account cultural and linguistic differences. Shows why interpretations produced by student readers may be considered as valid as those of critics or teachers if the students ground their response on an explicit account of the language patterning.…

Eight measures of cognitive and language function of 232 elementary school children were subjected to multiple methods of cluster analysis in an effort to identity subtypes of reading disability. Results, which yielded nine reliable subtypes, suggest that children with reading disability usually display impairments on phonological awareness…

Investigated the interpretation of the Chinese reflexive "ziji" by 57 English speakers and 24 Japanese speakers. Participants completed multiple-choice comprehension tests. Results indicated that first-language transfer occurred in second-language acquisition of the Chinese reflexive "ziji." (SM)

As globalization increases, American citizens need to be fluent in world languages and cultures. Undergraduate education has not kept pace with this reality, though K-12 language study has increased. Proposes the term linguacy to characterize an appreciation and respect for the richness and variety of the world's languages and cultures and a set…

Investigates the effects of second language (L2) linguistic competence on L2 reading in terms of its accountability for L2 reading comprehension and the relationship with the use of reading strategies. (Author/VWL)

Examines the variable use of verbal clitics in bilingual Spanish and proposes that the contact between Quechua and Spanish is expressed in the existence of more than one clitic system across an oral proficiency continuum in Spanish. Proposes that the clitic use in these different systems is variable and constrained by different factors.…

Numerous studies related to listening comprehension strategies have been published in the past two decades. The present study seeks to build upon two previous reviews of listening comprehension strategies research. Of particular interest in this review are studies dealing with the types of cues used by listeners, the sequence of listening,…

Within the last several years, researchers working with linguistic minority children have focused increasingly on the development of the types of language proficiencies that are required to perform successfully in academic contexts. Most practitioners and researchers agree that, in order to succeed in schools, such learners must be given the…

Switching interactively between first (L1) and second (L2) languages has been recognized as one of the salient characteristics of L2 writing. However, it is not clear how switching between languages is related to L2 proficiency nor how switching to the L1 assists writers with differing L2 proficiency in their composing processes. The present study…

This article re-examines the question of what makes some grammatical structures more difficult to learn than others, arguing that this question can only be properly understood and investigated with reference to the distinction between implicit and explicit knowledge of a second language. Using a battery of tests that were designed to measure…

The Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) describes language proficiency in reading, writing, speaking, and listening on a 6-level scale. In this study, English-language experts from across Europe linked CEFR levels to scores on three tests: the TOEFL® iBT test, the TOEIC® assessment, and the TOEIC "Bridge"™ test.…