The present study firstly assesses how students can develop and improve the skills of listening and reading through personalized feedback. Secondly, it evaluates the motivational effects of the use of Audience Response Systems (ARS) in English lessons in comparison with the lessons where these electronic devices are not used. In three sessions, 68…

This study introduces an evidence-centered approach to reverse design for languages for specific purposes (LSP) courses called domain analysis. The article describes the research framework and its potential to provide consistent empirical rigor to the necessarily decentralized field of LSP by reporting on one study using domain analysis in the…

The aim of this paper is to provide new evidence on the effectiveness of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) in the acquisition of English language competences (reading, writing, listening and spoken production and interaction) compared to traditional learning of English as a foreign language (EFL) in primary school settings. To do so,…

The present study explored data from a survey of students' performance in English at the end of compulsory school in 6 European countries. The aim was to gain deeper knowledge of the internal structure of the test and to discuss similarities and differences between the different settings regarding patterns in language proficiency. The analyses,…

This article deals with university language teaching in the perspective of its shift from linguistic competence towards communicative competence, and presents some aspects of the underlying process. It analyses the findings from a survey conducted within the Leonardo project "Transparency in the Acquired Language Competences" (TALC;…

Although there is an increasing number of online tests in the world, little research is currently known in Spain today. Assessment has become an integral part of education and the implications of the various uses of language testing go beyond the educational settings (Douglas, 2010; Fulcher, 2010). This study describes the PAULEX project. This…

This study investigates the development of the Reading Self-Concept and of the mechanisms underlying it, within a framework of a reading programme based on peer tutoring. The multiple methodological design adopted allowed for a quantitative approach which showed statistically significant changes in the Reading Self-Concept of those students who…

The project Early Language Learning in Europe (ELLiE) has studied the longitudinal effects of an early foreign language (FL) start in seven European contexts. This article presents a sub-study of ELLiE that investigates the impact of out-of-school factors on learners' listening and reading skills in year four of formal FL instruction. More…

This chapter addresses different modalities of assessment, provides an overview of the assessment processes of the basic skills (reading, writing, listening and speaking) tested by the Cambridge First Certificate in English (FCE) examination, and explores the ways in which the FCE Online Course and Tester--the resources provided through the…