Purpose: Aphasia fluency is multiply determined by underlying impairments in lexical retrieval, grammatical formulation, and speech production. This poses challenges for establishing a reliable and feasible tool to measure fluency in the clinic. We examine the reliability and validity of perceptual ratings and clinical perspectives on the utility…

This study was primarily aimed at developing an English-speaking proficiency test and analytic rubrics designed to measure speaking proficiency of Malaysian undergraduates. On the basis of Littlewood's Methodological Framework and Long's Interaction Hypothesis, the researchers derived three speaking tasks from four sources: (a) syllabus of the…

This study describes a vocabulary size test in Arabic used with 339 native speaking learners at school and university in Saudi Arabia. Native speaker vocabulary size scores should provide targets for attainment for learners of Arabic, should inform the writers of course books and teaching materials, and the test itself should allow learners to…

Writing in English with confidence is a matter of great concern for nonnative speakers. Since writing fluently requires a multi-dimensional mastery of language skills, students always regard it as an open question. This paper investigates writing skills which seem to be the least favored and most problematic skills to acquire in foreign language…

Speaking a language involves more than simply knowing the linguistic components of the message, and developing language skills requires more than grammatical comprehension and vocabulary memorization. In teaching-learning processes, drama method may have some positive effects on ELL students' speaking fluency and accuracy. This study attempts to…

This study describes the development and validation of the Extract the Base test (ETB), which assesses derivational morphological awareness. Scores on this test were validated for 580 monolingual students and 373 Spanish-speaking English language learners (ELLs) in third through fifth grade. As part of the validation of the internal structure,…

Examines the reliability, validity, and sensitivity of experimental measures developed to assess three areas of early literacy: phonological awareness, vocabulary development, and fluency in letter naming. Results indicate which measures display adequate psychometric properties for kindergartners not yet reading. Experimental measures were less…

Gives an overview of the development and testing of an interview instrument used by teachers of English as a second language to assess the oral proficiency of nonnative speakers. (The actual instrument is reprinted in the article that follows this one). (SK)

This article examines a subset of acculturation items pertaining to language fluency and use and to interpersonal relationships. This study included 3,050 Mexican American elders aged 65 to 99, randomly sampled from five states in the southwestern United States. A standard acculturation inventory was used as the source for two factor-derived…

Experience and research on the appropriateness and reliability of various criteria used in oral language tests are discussed. It is concluded that global marking schemes, which are less detailed, may enable the scorer to better evaluate communicative effectiveness, which includes both linguistic and paralinguistic factors. (MSE)

Examined open-ended production tasks in higher level testing in French-as-a-second-language courses in the United Kingdom. The article studied the effect of teachers' linguistic background, training, experience, and ability on their marking of students' oral language tests; the reliability of marking criteria; and the validity of assessing…