The teaching of English as a foreign language in Indonesia has a long history, and it is always important to ask whether the assessment of the students' language skills has been valid and reliable. A screening of many articles in several prominent databases reveal that a number of evaluation studies have been done by Indonesian scholars in the…

This study aimed to investigate how Grade 1-2 English language learners (ELLs) differ in their performance on a writing test in two test modes: paper and online. Participants were 139 ELLs in the United States. They completed three writing tasks, representing three test modes: (1) a paper in which students completed their writing using a…

Background: Integrated reading-into-writing tasks are increasingly used in large-scale language proficiency tests. Such tasks are said to possess higher authenticity as they reflect real-life writing conditions better than independent, writing-only tasks. However, to effectively define the reading-into-writing construct, more empirical evidence…

By being creative in preparing tests and by allowing creativity on the part of students, language teachers can incorporate many of the principles associated with proficiency-oriented instruction into a traditional test format. Such test strategies are based on the following: (1) testing in context is better than testing with a series of unrelated…

Examines how English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) students choose a prompt from several options on a timed-writing exam. Researchers interviewed 26 students after observing them taking a writing exam. Findings indicate that students' background knowledge, question type, and topic specificity influence their decision and that time is not an…

Selected papers from the conference address four priorities in second language teaching: teacher education; instruction; curriculum; and testing. Papers include: "Listening Processes and Authentic Texts" (Donna Reseigh Long); "Directory of Foreign Language Teacher Preparation Programs in the United States: A Preliminary Report"…