This meta-analysis investigated the overall effects of glossing on L2 vocabulary learning from reading and the influence of potential moderator variables: gloss format (type, language, mode) and text and learner characteristics. A total of 359 effect sizes from 42 studies (N = 3802) meeting the inclusion criteria were meta-analyzed. The results…

The central purpose of this paper is to examine validity problems arising from the multiple-choice items and technical passages in the Test of English as a Foreign Language Internet-based Test (TOEFL iBT) reading section, primarily concentrating on construct-irrelevant variance (Messick, 1989). My personal TOEFL iBT experience, along with my…

This article examines the test-taking strategies of high- and low-scoring Chinese-speaking participants when they answer English multiple-choice reading comprehension questions. Thirty-two participants took a TOEIC reading test, provided think-aloud protocols, and joined a post-task interview. The data come primarily from qualitative analysis and…

Distractor analyses are routinely conducted in educational assessments with multiple-choice items. In this research report, we focus on three item response models for distractors: (a) the traditional nominal response (NR) model, (b) a combination of a two-parameter logistic model for item scores and a NR model for selections of incorrect…

The current study was conducted to investigate whether test scores of Iranian English as Foreign Language (EFL) learners were equivalent across CBT and PBT modes, with 58 intermediate learners studying at a private language academy located in Behshahr city in northern Iran. Moreover, test takers' computer familiarity, attitudes, aversion, and…

Based on Afflerbach and Cho's (2009) theoretical model of Constructively Responsive Reading on the Internet (CRRI model), this study aims to explore the patterns of reading strategies that 40 proficient, college-level, Chinese English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners use while reading online. It also seeks to identify the strategies' relations…

This study explores the differential effects of captions and subtitles on extensive TV viewing comprehension by adolescent beginner foreign language learners, and how their comprehension is affected by factors related to the learner, preteaching of target vocabulary, the lexical coverage of the episodes, and the testing instruments. Four classes…

The purpose of this article of reflection is to raise awareness of how poor design of language assessments may have detrimental effects, if crucial qualities and technicalities of test design are not met. The article first discusses these central qualities for useful language assessments. Then, guidelines for creating listening assessments, as an…

The present study sought to evaluate the pragmatic competence of heritage learners of Spanish in regard to compliment sequences and the impact that pragmatic lessons would have on these students. To this end, pre and post tests to assess pragmatic recognition in regard to Spanish compliments were designed by the researchers and completed by the…

This study presents the results of an experiment designed to determine whether knowledge building can facilitate foreign language acquisition. We examined how groups of Catalan students in secondary schools worked together on collaborative writing tasks in English, their foreign language. The students were participating in the Knowledge Building…

This study investigates the effects that three different test presentation formats, i.e., written Korean, written English and aural English, have on EFL learners' listening comprehension. A total of 169 Korean college students participated in this study. The participants were divided into six groups, by three presentation format types and two…

The objectives of this study are to see if Reciprocal Teaching (RT) is more a effective Language Learning Strategy (LLS) to teach reading comprehension, and to see if students of high reading comprehension achievement have better reading comprehension than those of moderate and low reading comprehension achievement. The 3 x 2 factorial design is…

This study explored the role of vocabulary breadth and depth in second language learners' performance in IELTS academic reading tests in China. Sixty-two Chinese learners of English as a foreign language completed a vocabulary size test, a vocabulary depth test, and an IELTS reading test. Results showed that vocabulary breadth and depth both…

Purpose: This study examines the degree to which adolescents in Iceland are judged by native Icelandic speakers to have a foreign accent both in Icelandic and in English, two languages that are learned under different conditions, as the community and school language, and through school and incidental exposure. Method: Fifty-eight adolescents, 27…

The Interface Hypothesis (Sorace, 2000) developed in line with the Minimalist theory of grammar (Chomsky, 1995 et seq.) supports the view of L2 acquisition that syntactic properties are acquired early while the acquisition of interface properties is delayed. One of the interface properties is inflectional morphology on English verbs, which…