This article analyzes the growing trend among US higher education institutions to replace four-semester, proficiency-oriented language requirement models with shorter exposure-oriented sequences frequently restricting exemptions and aimed at bringing languages into distribution requirement structures. By contrasting the history, strengths, and…

This paper explains the process of designing a curriculum based on the Taba Model and the Global Scale of English (GSE) in an intensive language education program. The Taba Model emphasizing the involvement of the teachers and the learners in the curriculum development process was combined with the GSE, a psychometric tool measuring language…

The "Common European Framework of Reference" (CEFR) is the most widespread reference tool for linking language tests, curricula, and national educational standards to levels of foreign language proficiency in Europe. In spite of this, little is known about how the CEFR levels (A1-C2) relate to empirical learner language(s). This article…

Legislation linking language course attendance and passage of a language test for residence visas and citizenship, respectively, was enacted in Iceland in the early 2000s. Curricular guidelines and the language test were developed as a result. Research in other countries suggests such structures cause teachers to create "de facto"…

A broad view of assessment development and design procedures portrays existing theories and methodologies as not fully representative of the knowledge, skills, and abilities students need to perform in the 21st century. Acknowledgement of these inadequacies has led to developments in assessment research attempting to meet contemporary expectations…

The notion of mediation has been the object of growing interest in second language education in recent years. The increasing awareness of the complex nature of the process of learning--and teaching--stretches our collective reflection towards less explored areas. In mediation, the immediate focus is on the role of language in processes like…

This study examines the use of gamification as an innovative assessment approach to foreign language learning with 12-14-year-old students. A mixed methodology has been applied. Quantitative data have been collected from formative non-gamified and gamified assessments. Qualitative data was collected from a student questionnaire. The results were…

Language teaching and teaching through language have undergone a standardization process all over Europe. In the Spanish context, a myriad of programs has emerged in the last ten years whose main aim is to guarantee a plurilingual education. That means implementing and consolidating European directives on the matter from the Council of Europe.…

National trends indicate that approximately half of world language instructor candidates in the United States struggle to meet the benchmark oral proficiency standard established by ACTFL (Kissau, 2014; Swender, 2003) and measured by the Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI). Given the critical instructor shortage, more needs to be done to help…

The Standard-Based Curriculum for Secondary Schools (KSSM) was introduced in secondary schools in 2017. Parallel to the changes in the curriculum, Malaysian ESL (English as a Second Language) was revised to align with the "Common European Framework of References" (CEFR). Similarly, there is a change in the assessment of form three…

The authors illustrate models and procedures that can be applied to calculate overall composite scores in order to identify an indicator of English language proficiency, based on composite scores for English learners with 504 or individualized education plans who are missing one or more domain scores on the Assessing Comprehension and…

We present SimpleApprenant, a platform aiming to improve French L2 learners' knowledge of Multi Word Expressions (MWEs). SimpleApprenant integrates an MWE database annotated with the Common European Framework of Reference for languages (CEFR) level and several Natural Language Processing (NLP) tools: a spelling checker, a parser, and a set of…

Investigating the processes underlying test performance is a major source of data supporting the explanation inference in the validity argument (Chappelle, 2021). One way of modeling the cognitive processes underlying test performance is by constructing a Q-matrix, which is essentially about summarizing the attributes explaining test-takers'…

To date, research into conference interpreting has not produced a definition of the concrete subskills associated with an A, B and C language in interpreters' combinations of working languages. Existing frameworks for performance assessment in foreign languages are not designed to cover the very advanced range of language mastery associated with…

Self-assessment for accreditation purposes requires follow-up of graduates and feedback with academic programs. As part of the improvement actions, this study was done to characterize graduates' methodologies in English language teaching. The data, gathered through questionnaires, showed that graduates privilege the communicative and eclectic…