The Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) contains a direct writing assessment, and examinees are given the option of composing their responses at a computer terminal using a keyboard or composing their responses in handwriting. This study sought to determine whether performance on a direct writing assessment is comparable for examinees…

This article discusses how the critical examination of "culture as difference" and "culture as hierarchy" is often lacking in the Spanish language classroom. As such, the author suggests that the current challenge in the Spanish language classroom is to identify techniques to enhance not only students' language proficiency but also their cultural…

This research project aimed to establish the attributes that are sought by schools in New South Wales when they are selecting new language teachers. The research provided some insight into the decision makers' "wish lists" of desirable attributes. The findings of the project include useful data for employers, teachers, teacher educators,…

Literature on bilingual education suggests that the material used in teaching second language writing has an impact on the quality of the text. In addition, the material interacts differently with the level of bilingual proficiency of the students. This paper attempts to explore the written stories of three deaf students, which were produced under…

This quasi-experimental study investigated the potential benefits of two corrective feedback techniques (recasts and prompts) for learners of different proficiency levels. Sixty-four students in three intact grade 6 intensive English as a second language classes in the Montreal area were assigned to the two experimental conditions--one received…

This study places the predictions of the bilingual interactive activation model (Dijkstra & Van Heuven, 1998) and the revised hierarchical model (Kroll & Stewart, 1994) in the same context to investigate lexical processing in a second language (L2). The performances of two groups of native English speakers, one less proficient and the other more…

The students in 21st-century public middle schools are increasingly diverse in terms of language proficiency, cultural and ethnic representation, and varied levels of poverty; and, yet, they are being educated in a political climate that encourages mainstreaming special education and gifted services in the regular classroom. Given this context,…

Writing assessment essentially juxtaposes two elements: how "good writing" is to be defined, and how "good measurement" of that writing is to be carried out. The timed test is often used in large-scale L2 writing assessments because it is considered to provide reliable measurement. It is, however, highly inauthentic. One way of enhancing…

This case study investigated the revising patterns and intentions in L1 and L2 of Japanese writers with various writing experiences. Three participants were selected through purposeful sampling to do within-case comparisons. One participant was an experienced writer in both Japanese and English; one was an experienced writer in Japanese, but not…

This study examines the reliability and validity of translation tests as a reading comprehension measure. The following tests were administered to 70 Japanese high school students: (1) open-ended translation (OE-TRAN) test from English to Japanese; (2) multiple-choice translation (MC-TRAN) test; (3) cloze test (CLOZE-T); and (4) short-answer…

Latino/Latina children who are considered to be limited-English proficient may be unwilling participants in unique and difficult personal and school-related experiences. The inherent differences in their native culture and language may lead to special academic placements in English-as-a-second-language programs. Participation in a…

Providing advanced training to individuals in specialized disciplinary areas is one of the primary purposes of universities' graduate programs. Typically these programs are selective and require that a number of criteria be met, such as successful completion of undergraduate education, and a selected range of scores on standardized exams. For…

This article describes the word reading skills in English and Spanish for a sample of 244 Spanish-speaking, English-learning (hence, bilingual) students in first grade and presents a predictive model for English word reading skills. The children in the study were assessed at the end of kindergarten and first grade, respectively. Data were gathered…

This study assesses communication training provided in MBA and executive MBA programs in Singapore. The authors found that Singapore is a microcosm in terms of (a) requirements for English competency, (b) the variety of communication offerings, and (c) the lack of uniformity in the delivery of communication training. Whereas Singaporean MBA/EMBA…

Many researchers and practitioners maintain that ACTFL's efforts to improve instructional practices and promote proficiency assessments tied to descriptors of what learners can do in real life have contributed significantly to second language teaching and testing. Similar endeavors in the area of research, however, are critically needed. Focusing…