Analyzes simulated performance ratings on a six-point scale by two independent raters to account for nonsystematic error in performance ratings. Results suggest that rater agreement or covariance is not always a dependable estimate of score reliability and that the practice of seeking additional raters for adjudication of discrepant ratings is not…

The authors argue that English language learner (ELL) language assessment policy and poor language tests partly account for ELLs' disproportionate representation in special education. Previous research indicates that many states routinely assess ELLs' first language (L1) at initial enrollment and that ELLs identified as limited in both languages…

This study investigated the possible existence of causal links between anxiety and language learning difficulties by using the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) (Horwitz, Horwitz, & Cope, 1986) to examine anxiety and the Foreign Language Screening Instrument for Colleges (FLSI-C) (Ganschow & Sparks, 1991) to explore learning…

In this article, the author discusses the necessity of challenging the widely-held belief that students inevitably make second language progress through studying abroad. Through administering a series of pre- and post-tests, quantitative and qualitative, to students enrolled in three different programs of varying lengths in Spain, the author…

The spacing effect is known to be one of the most robust phenomena in experimental psychology, and many attempts have been made to realize effective spaced learning for L2 vocabulary learning. This study compares vocabulary learning with word lists, word cards, and computers in order to identify which material leads to the most superior spaced…

Related literature indicates that the Internet has an important role and great potential in foreign language learning. It is also obvious that attitudes of learners affect learning process significantly. This study aimed to investigate the attitudes of foreign language learners and to find the relationship between attitudes and subject variables.…

Several researchers have suggested that definitional skill explains academic success/failure (Gagne, 2004; Snow, 1987). The words used to investigate definitional skill have all been concrete words given in the first language (L1) and/or the second language (L2) of the participants. This paper reports a study investigating the quality of the…

This descriptive study documents the effects of response-to-intervention type practices in four first-grade classrooms of English learners (ELs) from 11 native languages in three schools in a large urban school district in southern California. Observations and interviews in four classrooms across two consecutive years were compared to first-grade…

The ordering of morphemes is examined in group cross-sectional studies of second language learner performance. It is studied in terms of ordering by internal frequency (i.e., the relative rank number of obligatory occasions supplied by the subject) and external frequency (i.e., the native adult frequency ordering of morphemes). There are…

Five language assessment tests (LATs) are used for identifying children of limited English speaking ability in Texas: Basic Inventory of Natural Language; Bilingual Syntax Measure; Language Assessment Scales; Primary Acquisition of Language; and Schutt Primary Language Indicator Test. Interrelationships between LATs and relationships between the…

Agrees with Oller and Perkins (1978) that correlation and causation are not equivalent and that correlations between invalid measures yield no important conclusions. In addition, Oller and Perkins' arguments against the validity of self-report measurements are examined, as well as evidence for a causal relation between variance in affective…

A study examined (1) whether student attitudes toward French as a second language (FSL) could be changed by classroom events occurring early in the school and (2) the relationship of expressed attitudes toward FSL learning and behaviors in the language classroom. (MSE)

Compares native Spanish-speaking (N=9) and native English-speaking kindergarten students' use of language learning acts after individual peer tutoring sessions in English. Findings reveal that students appear to acquire English according to their level of general academic achievement. (Author/CB)

Reports on a morpheme study conducted with learners of English as a foreign language in Poland which found some similarities between foreign- and second-language accuracy in orders of morphemes. (Author/CB)