This dissertation follows an oral language assessment tool from initial design and implementation to validity analysis. The specialized variables of this study are the population: international teaching assistants and the purpose: spoken assessment as a hiring prerequisite. However, the process can easily be applied to other populations and…

In 2008-09, four alternate assessments were available for use in grades/courses where the state typically tests students. As in earlier years, results for WCPSS students were mixed. Student performance on the NCCLAS, an assessment designed mainly for limited English proficient (LEP) students, improved in mathematics but remained low in reading for…

The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction revised the alternate assessment system for students with disabilities (SWD) and/or limited English proficiency (LEP) in 2009-10. On the three alternate assessments that were given in 2009-10, results for WCPSS students were mixed. On the NCEXTEND1 assessments, which are taken by students with…

The purpose of this article is to briefly describe the design and piloting of a branched, online placement and credit examination that measures receptive as well as productive and creative language abilities in the heritage language of college students entering the Spanish for Heritage Learners Program at the University of Houston, a major…

An experimental study explored writing-learning relationship in a Korean college curriculum. Two teachers and 207 students participated and four sections of a freshman English reading course were used. Students in two sections were allocated to an experimental group, and students in the other two sections, to a control group. Based on the premise…

Reading skills at age 7-8 years were examined in a community-representative sample of 21 screened and clinically examined children with language delay (LD) followed prospectively from 2.5 years of age. The present study aimed to (1) determine whether these children with a history of LD had deficits in basic reading skills, i.e. decoding and…

This study explored bilingual school psychologists' assessment practices with students identified as English language learners (ELL). One thousand bilingual National Association of School Psychologist members were recruited nationwide, and 276 participated. Among those conducting language proficiency assessments of ELLs, many (58%) use…

Integrated tasks are currently employed in a number of L2 exams since they are perceived as an addition to the writing-only task type. Given this trend, the current study investigates composite score generalizability of both reading-to-write and writing-only tasks. For this purpose, a multivariate generalizability analysis is used to investigate…

The influences of early phonological awareness and naming speed on Dutch children's later word spelling were investigated in a longitudinal study. Phonological awareness and naming speed predicted spelling in early Grade 1, later Grade 1, and later Grade 2. Phonological awareness, however, predominated over naming speed for the prediction of early…

The purpose of the present study was twofold. Firstly, it tried to investigate the relationship between the technical English proficiency of the students of Mechanical Engineering in the universities of Iran and their technical translation proficiency in translating technical texts of Mechanics. Secondly, it attempted to evaluate the effectiveness…

This study discusses the effects of using multimedia assisted instruction for Mandarin vocabulary learning by Vietnamese students with the assistance of the ASSURE model. The aim is to understand the difficulties encountered by these students and the effects during the learning progress of multimedia assisted instruction. In order to fulfill the…

The testing and examination history in China can be traced back to the imperial period nearly two thousand years ago. The existence of English language testing (tests), on the other hand, has a much shorter history. These English tests, developed and administered over the past 20 years, however, are taken by billions of learners of the English…

To facilitate the interpretation of test scores from the new TOEIC[R] (Test of English for International Communications[TM]) speaking and writing tests as measures of English-language proficiency, we administered a self-assessment inventory to TOEIC examinees in Japan and Korea, to gather their perceptions of their ability to perform a variety of…

The present study investigates the relative effects of processing instruction (PI) and meaning-based output instruction (MOI) on the acquisition of Japanese honorific expressions. The PI and MOI treatments were designed to be identical except for the practice mode (input vs. output) and treatments were provided via computer-based materials.…

Within the general context of the attention being given to vocational education in China and imminent major reform in the English language vocational education curriculum, this paper describes the construction of a set of calibrated tests of reading skills, grammar and vocabulary knowledge to inform curriculum planners about levels of ability in…