Functional neuroimaging of bilinguals and monolinguals used in conjunction with experimental cognitive tasks has been successful in establishing functional specialization as a principle of brain organization in humans. Consistent results show that attained proficiency and possibly language exposure are more important than age of acquisition as a…

Addresses the question of whether there are different characteristics and language performance conditions (involving assumed different levels of cognitive demand) associated with different levels of fluency, complexity, or accuracy in test candidate responses. Participants were pre-university students taking English courses. (Author/VWL)

Explores the role of a course on Spanish cinema in an undergraduate, university-level curriculum in terms of its potential to acquaint students with significant cultural issues and to develop language skills. (Author/VWL)

The present study investigates the developmental aspect of the revised hierarchical model (Kroll & Stewart, 1994) concerning the access to the conceptual store from the second language (L2). We manipulated the level of proficiency and age of L2 acquisition. We tested Spanish-Catalan bilinguals (49 early proficient bilinguals, 28 late proficient…

The authors report 4 experiments exploring the language-switching performance of highly proficient bilinguals in a picture-naming task. In Experiment 1, they tested the impact of language similarity and age of 2nd language acquisition on the language-switching performance of highly proficient bilinguals. Experiments 2, 3, and 4 assessed the…

This article reports a case study designed to explore the effectiveness of full-scale, authentic-text theater production for second language learning. Based on the results of preproduction and postproduction tests completed by cast and crew members, as well as the observations of all involved, the authors maintain that the diverse communication…

Proper grammar is crucial for effective communication. Two surveys of students in an introductory writing course sought to identify predictors of grammar ability. Students demonstrated a limited grasp of the language, struggling with such issues as the distinction between "it's" and "its." Women performed better than men at the beginning of the…

Language minority students, while often underrepresented in traditional gifted programs, can benefit from "heritage language" courses focused on developing academic proficiency and exploring challenging content in their home language. We describe how heritage language courses can provide an appropriate venue for the identification of gifted…

We assessed six multilingual subjects by functional MRI using a Noun Verb Generation task in four different languages. We hypothesised that the degree of proficiency in each language would be related to the extent of functional activity measured in a region of interest analysis. Proficiency in each language was quantified using two…

Recent articles in this journal (Foot 1999; Saville and Hargreaves 1999) have focused on the advantages and disadvantages of the paired format of the Cambridge Speaking Tests. This article aims to contribute to the debate by considering how the pairing of candidates may impact upon the language sample produced and could affect the assessment…

This paper examines the use of regional languages and dialects of Dutch in the Netherlands, and the relation of such to the Dutch language proficiency of primary school pupils. The data from the large-scale primary education PRIMA cohort study are analysed. A total of nearly 35,000 pupils participated in five measurement rounds covering the period…

Increased attention to large-scale assessments, the growing number of English language learners in schools, and recent inclusionary policies have collectively made assessment accommodations a hotly debated issue, especially regarding the validity of test results for English language learners. Decisions about which accommodations to use, for whom,…

The assessment of learners' metacognitive knowledge level is crucial when developing computer-assisted language learning systems. Currently, many systems assess learners' metacognitive knowledge level with pre-instructional questionnaires or metacognitive interviews. However, learners with limited language proficiency may be at a disadvantage in…

In dual language programs, children who speak a majority language are grouped with children who speak a minority language, and instruction is delivered in both languages. This focus on structural rather than instructional design can lead to a recipe approach to design: add the ingredients (native-speaking children, content language instruction) in…

The Australian Federation of Modern Language Teachers Associations (AFMLTA) has recently developed a set of professional standards for accomplished language teachers. Standards of teaching are statements of values about the processes of teaching, learning, and knowing, and of the practices of those who teach languages and cultures. These standards…