This sequential mixed-methods study investigates washback on learning in a high-stakes school exit examination by examining learner perceptions and reported behaviours in relation to learners' beliefs and language learning experience, the role of other stakeholders in the washback mechanism, and socio-educational forces. The focus is the graded…

This study examined the relationship between lexical coverage (i.e., the percentage of known word tokens in a text) and second language (L2) reading comprehension. Several studies have suggested that adequate comprehension occurs between 95% and 98% coverage, but no study has investigated beginning-level learners reading under the conditions of…

This manuscript reports on a study carried out at a public university in southeast Mexico aimed to determine whether changes in the instructional design of an online English course benefit students' oral communicative competence. The research followed a quantitative quasi-experimental design that involved two groups of students. One of them took a…

High stakes test-based accountability systems primarily rely on aggregates and derivatives of scores from tests that were originally developed to measure individual student proficiency in subject areas such as math, reading/language arts, and now English language proficiency. Current validity models do not explicitly address this use of aggregate…

Purpose: Norm-referenced, standardized measures are tools designed to characterize a child's abilities relative to their same-age peers, but they also have been used to measure changes in skills during intervention. This study compared the psychometric properties of four types of available scores from one commonly used standardized measure, the…

The aim of this study is to provide a review of published and peer-reviewed resources for acquired communication disorders in Qatar. The study followed a systematic review of studies and resources published for Qatari Arabic in major journal databases. In addition, the review made use of personal communication with clinicians in the field to…

Listening comprehension in English, as one of the most fundamental skills, has an essential role in the process of learning English. Non-parametric item Response Theory (NIRT) is a probabilistic-nonparametric approach to item response theory (IRT) which determines the one-dimensionality and adaptability of test. NIRT techniques are a useful tool…

Purpose: The primary aim of this study was to compare decoding and literacyrelated skills of children with suspected childhood apraxia of speech (sCAS) to children with reading disorders (RD) and no history of speech sound disorder (RD-no SSD) to determine if the groups differ in decoding and the endophenotypes that contribute to RD. We also…

Background: Creating a holistic picture of children and youth who suffer from acquired aphasia or another (developmental) language disorders is very difficult due to missing diagnostic instruments covering participation. Szenario-Kids is a new diagnostic instrument to measure multimodal communication abilities in everyday life situations of…

In order to assess the accuracy and validity of proficiency diagnostic tests in Second Language (L2), specifically regarding the linguistic (orthographic, semantic, syntactic, lexical) and cognitive (verbal reasoning, lexical decision) components for the immigrant population in Portugal, a study of cut-off points of 6 tests was conducted. This…

This paper probes into implicit language aptitude (LA), a set of cognitive abilities that showcase learners' unconscious, automatic second language (L2) attainment. Implicit LA is becoming an important part of aptitude research, and advances the understanding of L2 learning mechanism. This paper critiques the construct of implicit LA and proposes…

Learners' views of a test have been regarded as a crucial source of evidence of a test's construct validity as well as a measurement of its impact. This study investigates students' (N = 3105) perceptions of the National Matriculation English Test (NMET), a high-stakes test in China, and explores the influences of school status and classroom…

The current study investigates the use of alternative assessments in English as a foreign language (EFL) classes in Saudi Arabia. While alternative assessments have been recently recognized as a prospective approach to assessing EFL learning, little research has examined how language learners perceive this approach to assessment in an EFL context,…

Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA), like other community colleges, does not require Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) scores or similar entrance examinations for admission. However, new college applicants must demonstrate their levels of reading, writing, and mathematics skills to determine whether they need developmental courses to prepare…

This paper analyses the relationship between translational technology and learning outcomes and investigates the type of translational technology most beneficial towards students' translations of legal texts. This study tests whether differences were found in the learning outcomes of legal text translation for students with high and low placement…