The study evaluated a recently postponed national test policy on the use of external agencies' English tests measuring four skills for Japanese university admission purposes. Using Kunnan's principles of fairness and justice, we generated and evaluated three claims regarding the test policy: vocabulary coverage of the tests, the justifiability of…

The European Language Portfolio (ELP) is based on principles which tend to challenge traditional learning and teaching practices and thus impact on education policy and systems. The primary owner of the ELP is the learner, and as a personal language learning companion, the ELP has three core functions: pedagogic, reporting and catalytic. For it to…

The Languages Ladder--a new framework for accrediting language proficiency--is a core element of the National Languages Strategy. This paper presents Asset Languages, the system being developed by Cambridge Assessment to implement the Languages Ladder, aiming to set it apart from existing qualification frameworks by accrediting clearly defined…

The movement for developing and implementing adult English as a Second Language (ESL) content standards is gaining momentum in the United States as more emphasis is placed on learner outcomes, accountability, and professionalism in the field. Additional research is needed to investigate the impact that adult ESL content standards have on…