An overall examination of the two forms of oral proficiency testing currently in use in most language teaching programs across the country: the oral proficiency interview and the simulated oral proficiency interview. Test administration, response elicitation, and rating procedures are examined comparatively, and a general overview of the…

Argues that English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) teaching should begin with meaning through immersion in literature and incorporate language study. Describes offering an inclusive sampling of North American literature. Notes specific picture book, drama, short story, novel, and poetry titles. Discusses ways to meaningfully engage ESL students in…

Examines when and how much the target language (TL) should be used in second language and foreign language teaching and why. Agrees with the view that second and foreign language teachers should maximize their use of the TL, and argues that doing so benefits students' TL proficiency. Highlights disadvantages when teachers rely too heavily on the…

Investigates the effects of two types of motivation--integrative and instrumental--on the English proficiency of English-as-a-foreign-language senior students at Islamic Azad University of Kerman. Results showed a significant difference between the means of the English proficiency scores of the integratively motivated students and the…

Discusses issues identified by Douglas (2000) as problematic for language for specific purposes testing, making reference to a number of performance-based instruments designed to assess the language proficiency of teachers or intending teachers. Addresses the problems of specificity and authenticity. (Author)

Investigates the social attitudes toward the Hebrew language and Israeli society and the academic skills in Russian and Hebrew of 60 Russian-Jewish immigrant high school students in Northern Israel. Addresses the linguistic social context in Israel and provides a literature review. Presents and discusses the results. Includes references. (CMK)

Notes that educators should closely examine the theoretical backgrounds of their beliefs to determine how mainstream values affect educational opportunities for the linguistically and culturally diverse students. Suggests that educators must carefully combine theory and practice within broader social, cultural, and historical contexts to produce…

Based on findings from an ethnographic study conducted in South Korea, recommends that when working with non-native speakers, native speakers: be patient, emphasize vowel sounds, avoid over-enunciation, utilize phenomenological bracketing, minimize use of metaphors and idioms, and avoid using intonation to convey meaning. (EV)

Argues that further progress in applied linguistics and second-language acquisition will be achieved through collaboration with researchers in other fields. Three examples of research problems are provided that would profit from collaboration with applied linguists: the definition of language proficiency, the neural basis of language functioning,…

Examines the way in which many high stakes tests have been introduced for reasons of political expediency rather than educational benefit. Discusses the consequences of using tests in this way and suggests that when tests are used as disciplinary tools, their introduction leads to a narrowing of the curriculum rather than an improvement in…

Discusses the Army's Joint Vision (JV2010), which provides a blueprint for finding and using skilled linguists. To ensure that these linguists and trainers are in step with the needs of the future, they must take advantage of all applicable technological developments. (Author/VWL)

Describes approaches taken in Texas to bring about academic accountability for students of limited English proficiency through evaluating and reporting annually on their progress in English-language literacy and their learning of school subjects and by documenting the growth in successful performance on state tests by this special population. (SLD)

Argues for the expansion of the German culture classroom by incorporating materials about the Roma and Sinti, and Kurds. Suggests valuable resources and materials for German instructors and discusses teaching strategies that combine teaching cultural content and language proficiency. (Author/VWL)

Seventeen states in the United States use Spanish-language proficiency tests to ensure that bilingual education teachers are able to deliver academic instruction in Spanish to school-age students. The unified validity of the Four Skills Exam (FSE), used in New Mexico for nearly 18 years, was evaluated using Messick's framework (1989). (Author/VWL)

A nested cross-over design was used to examine the effects of visual condition, type of stimuli, and language proficiency on listening comprehension items of the Test of English as a Foreign Language. Three two-way interactions were significant: proficiency by type of stimuli, type of stimuli by visual condition, and type of stimuli by time.…