In the assessment of second language oral communication, the video-call speaking test has received increasing attention as a test method with higher practicality than its in-person counterpart, but still with broad coverage of the test construct. Previous studies into video-call assessment have focussed on the individual (as opposed to paired or…

In this dissertation, I present the findings from the implementation of an informational text reading comprehension intervention. Using a single-case multiple baselines across participants' experimental design, I examined results from three small heterogeneous groups of three to four students during the literacy block in a suburban fourth-grade…

While several studies support the appropriateness of tasks delivered through Spoken Dialog Systems (SDSs) for L2 oral communication assessment, few studies have explored the construct of interactional competence (IC) as measured by such tasks. This study aims to address this gap in the literature by investigating the use of IC features by high-…

Purpose: The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has prompted changes to child assessment procedures in schools such as the use of face masks by assessors. Research with adults suggests that face masks diminish performance on speech processing and comprehension tasks, yet little is known about how assessor masking affects child performance. Therefore, we…

Purpose: The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has prompted changes to child assessment procedures in schools such as the use of face masks by assessors. Research with adults suggests that face masks diminish performance on speech processing and comprehension tasks, yet little is known about how assessor masking affects child performance. Therefore, we…

The German school system employs centrally organized performance assessments (some of which are called "VERA") as a way of promoting lesson development. In recent years, several German federal states introduced a computer-based performance testing system which will replace the paper-pencil testing system in the future. Scores from…

Although lexical diversity is often used as a measure of productive proficiency (e.g., as an aspect of lexical complexity) in SLA studies involving oral tasks, relatively little research has been conducted to support the reliability and/or validity of these indices in spoken contexts. Furthermore, SLA researchers commonly use indices of lexical…

Second language (L2) teachers may shy away from self-assessments because of warnings that students are not accurate self-assessors. This information stems from meta-analyses in which self-assessment scores on average did not correlate highly with proficiency test results. However, researchers mostly used Pearson correlations, when polyserial could…

The study aims to investigate the impact of implementing the Numbered Heads Strategy on developing oral expression skills among Arabic learners who speak languages, as well as their attitudes towards this teaching method. The research involved 50 participants, both male and female, at the fourth level of a language center within Al al-Bayt…

Lexical sophistication has been an important indicator of productive lexical proficiency for almost 30 years. Although lexical sophistication has most often been operationalized as the proportion of low frequency words in a text, a growing body of research has indicated that a number of indices such as concreteness, hypernymy, and n-gram…

This paper investigates the comparability between the video-conferencing and face-to-face modes of the IELTS Speaking Test in terms of scores and language functions generated by test-takers. Data were collected from 10 trained IELTS examiners and 99 test-takers who took two speaking tests under face-to-face and video-conferencing conditions.…

Background: Phonological processing skills have been found to contribute to spelling development across different orthographies; however, less is known about the role of orthographic knowledge. This longitudinal study explores the contribution of phonological and orthographic knowledge to spelling development in a semi-transparent orthography…

In response to the calls for making key stakeholders' perspectives relevant in the test validation process, the study discussed in this report sought test-taker feedback as part of collecting validity evidence and supporting the ongoing field testing efforts of the new "TOEFL ITP"® Speaking section. Specifically, I aimed to investigate…

Study abroad is an important piece of the internationalization of curriculum and is particularly advantageous for second language learners. Many students study abroad to learn a language and the majority of students studying abroad enroll in shorter-term programs. Given their strong representation in the field of study abroad, the following…

According to Diane August (2002), at the Center for Applied Linguistics, Multilingual Learners (MLs) spend less than two percent of their school day in oral language development. Echevarria and Goldenberg (2017) support that creating numerous opportunities for ML students to speak will accelerate their vocabulary and oral language development to…