This paper intends to provide an Optimality-theoretic analysis of word-stress learnability among Moroccan learners of English. Language acquisition, from an Optimality Theory perspective, is a process of reordering the constraints from an initial state of the grammar to the language-specific ranking of the target grammar. To account for stress…

In the current study, the validity of C-Test is investigated using the construct identification approach. Based on construct identification approach, the factors which are deemed to affect item difficulty in C-Test items were identified. To this aim, 11 factors were selected to enter into Linear Logistic Testing Model (LLTM) analysis to…

Although research shows that repetition increases second language vocabulary learning, only several studies have examined the long-term effects of increasing retrieval frequency in one learning session. With this in mind, the present study examined the effects of within-session repeated retrieval on vocabulary learning. The study is original in…

This report briefly reviews the design and scoring procedure for the "TOEIC"® Speaking test and summarizes existing evidence about the consistency of TOEIC Speaking test scores. It then describes several analyses conducted using generalizability theory to provide additional information about the consistency of scores across different…

Purpose: Early auditory experiences are fundamental in infant language acquisition. Research consistently demonstrates the benefits of early intervention (i.e., hearing aids) to language outcomes in children who are deaf and hard of hearing. The nature of these benefits and their relation with prefitting development are, however, not well…

In recent years, continuing advances in technology have increased the capacity to automate the extraction of a range of linguistic features of texts and thus have provided the impetus for the substantial growth of corpus linguistics. While corpus linguistic tools and methods have been used extensively in second language learning research, they…

Word Associates Format (WAF) tests are often used to measure second language learners' vocabulary depth with a focus on their network knowledge. Yet, there were often many variations in the specific forms of the tests and the ways they were used, which tended to have an impact on learners' response behaviors and, more importantly, the psychometric…

This document is provided by the Florida Department of Education to help prepare Adult and Career and Technical Students to take the Tests of Adult Basic Education (TABE) test. These tests are used to determine students' strengths that will assist them in successfully completing their programs. The TABE has three major areas: Reading, Language,…

Computer-based assessments can provide students with feedback to guide their learning as well as inform teachers who extract information to prepare their teaching. Five secondary school teachers were monitored during one school year to answer the following research questions: (1) What kind of student data do teachers use for their teaching…

L2 lexical studies have established that learners need to acquire knowledge of the first 3,000 most frequent words in order to enjoy 95% coverage of the vocabulary used in spontaneous speech (Nation 2006). However, there has been little data available that reveal how many of these most frequent words can be recognized by university language…

This article introduces the use of public exam questions in fishbowl debate to engage highly exam-oriented secondary students with communicative language teaching (CLT). The practice aims to address the issue that many teachers of English as a second language (ESL)/English as a foreign language (EFL) in Asian contexts either teach to the test or…

The present study addresses a significant but neglected aspect of vocabulary teaching in general and teaching collocations, in particular, which is color term collocations. A significant number of idioms involve use color terms such as blue blood, black death, red tape, black sheep, and yellow press that are significant to study in the context of…

The present investigation explores Cognitive Test Anxiety (CTA) in a high-stake oral examination, taking into consideration how face-to-face and computer-based examination formats affect test-takers' anxiety and consequently language performance. Two speaking tests -- face-to-face and computer-based -- were developed for a Spanish university's…

The practice of integrating pedagogical approaches using multimedia technologies has become one of the common interests in education in recent years. The technology-based approaches such as computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) and electronic literacy approach (ELA) are spreading widely in English language teaching (ELT) at present. The…

Grice's conversational maxims have been one of the most influential pragmatic theories up to now. The primary purpose of this study was to measure the comprehension of Iranian intermediate EFL learners in terms of English humor based on Grice's non-observed conversational maxims. Moreover, this study intended to find which of Grice's non-observed…