Over the years, careers have transformed to be flexible and changing rather than stable, life-long commitments to an organization. As such, making work meaningful, controlling the work environment, and taking the opportunity to get required training for the next job are as important as the financial advantages. Educators' careers cannot be…

Human raters are normally involved in L2 performance assessment; as a result, rater behavior has been widely investigated to reduce rater effects on test scores and to provide validity arguments. Yet raters' cognition and use of rubrics in their actual rating have rarely been explored qualitatively in L2 speaking assessments. In this study three…

Presents study conducted using high school Spanish students to demonstrate that either a cloze test or a redundancy test could be used in place of either the MLA total score or an interview test. (Author/BK)

Presents data on the impact of oral and silent reading on reading comprehension. Hypothesizes that reading comprehension is enhanced significantly by silent, rather than oral reading, and that re-reading is an effective mode for increasing comprehension in either mode. (EKN)

Two methods of teaching advanced English as second language reading were compared in a sample of 24 Asian college students who were non-native speakers of English. The subjects were divided into three matched groups, each with one of two different teachers using different teaching methods, but both using the same text. It was hypothesized that all…

A discussion of dictionaries and their use for second language (L2) learning suggests that lack of computerized modern language corpora can adversely affect bilingual dictionaries, commonly used by L2 learners, and shows how use of such corpora has benefitted two contemporary monolingual L2 learner dictionaries (1995 editions of the Longman…

The role of different types of testing instruments in second language programs is discussed. Knowledge-based tests, including discrete-point and integrative tests are contrasted with direct tests, including the Foreign Service Institute Scale and the Australian Second Language Proficiency Ratings (ASLPR). The ASLPR is described in detail in terms…

A language typology based on common errors made in pronunciation of English by speakers of other languages is presented and discussed. The classification system was developed from the concept of interlanguage, the intermediate step between a language learner's native and target languages, and the notion that interference in learning a new language…