Five hearing-impaired high-school students used telephone communication devices for the deaf (TDDs) to converse with each other and with the researchers. Results indicated that TDD conversational exchanges can be used as a language sampling context, and the Burton analysis system provides empirical information regarding the categories/patterns of…

Data from an auditory lexical decision experiment with English-Dutch bilinguals are compared with data from a similar experiment using visual lexical decision to determine the effect of language proficiency, mode of presentation, and cognateness of lexical items on lexical processing. The results indicate significant within and between-language…

Reports a two-phase project aimed at developing critical language awareness through the teaching of Portuguese. During the first phase, 13-year-olds in a Brazilian state school evaluated their Portuguese lessons, and identified features they felt needed altering to develop critical awareness of language and social reality. Changes were proposed…

This paper reports a previously unpublished comparative analysis of data from the ImpaCT2 study investigating the relationship between students' performance in England on national tests and their reported use of information technology (particularly networked technology) for school work, at three age levels (11, 14 and 16), in English, Maths and…

The IELTS test is widely accepted by university admissions offices as evidence of English language ability. The test is also used to guide decisions about the amount of language study required for students to satisfy admissions requirements. Guidelines currently published by the British Association of Lecturers in English for Academic Purposes…

This article provides renewed converging empirical evidence for the hypothesis that asking test-takers to respond to text passages with multiple-choice questions induces response processes that are strikingly different from those that respondents would draw on when reading in non-testing contexts. Moreover, the article shows that the construct of…

This paper examines the nature of confidence in relation to cognitive abilities, personality traits, and metacognition. Confidence was measured as it was expressed in answers to each test item during the administration of reading and listening sections of the TOEFL® iBT. The confidence scores were correlated with the accuracy scores from the TOEFL…

The purpose of this study is to ascertain whether the type of instruction (English as vehicular language and English as a subject) is related to the use of reiteration ties. In the first place, we identified, classified, and counted the number and kind of reiteration ties used by two groups of EFL learners. Secondly, we examined whether…

The Delaware Department of Education (DDOE) was interested in evaluating components of a statewide pilot program to support instruction in World Languages (particularly Spanish and French). The first component was an online student assessment, the Standards-based Measurement of Proficiency (STAMP) to measure the learning outcomes. The DDOE also…

Questioning the notion of a sensitive period for second language acquisition, this research examined students' interlanguage development in selected classes at two grades in early, middle, and late French immersion. These classes were administered the same verb tense tests: an oral elicited imitation test and written rational cloze test. Analysis…

The final report on a Mercy College (New York) program of mathematics and vocational English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) instruction for limited-English-proficient workers in a manufacturing company is presented. The report consists of documentary materials, and is organized according to the five chronological terms in which the program operated,…

A discussion of national language policy and planning in the United States begins with a brief examination of the de facto policy currently at work and lack of government initiative in establishing and meeting priorities in language education. It then focuses on three policy issues currently facing the American foreign language teaching system.…

A study of individual variability in second-language learners' performance in specific classroom tasks is presented as evidence that instruction in language for special purposes (LSP) has an important role to play. Subjects were 17 Singapore university students in a remedial English course; all had studied English since elementary school. The…

This article discusses second language vocabulary learning strategies and includes an analysis and classification of possible strategies and the report of a study conducted among second language learners in Japan. Research on vocabulary learning strategies is synthesized into two lists of strategies: 14 methods for initial learning of a new word's…

This guide provides descriptions of standards for assessing students' skills in French as a second language, accompanied by samples of student work in the four language skills (listening comprehension, reading comprehension, writing, and speaking) at each of nine competency levels. An introductory section discusses basic principles in reporting…