This book brings together current research by leading international scholars on the often contentious nature of language policies and their practical outcomes in North America, Australia and Europe. It presents a range of perspectives from which to engage with a variety of pressing issues raised by multilingualism, multiculturalism, immigration,…

The Guidelines for Good Practice of the European Association for Language Testing and Assessment (EALTA) stress the importance of collaboration between all parties involved in the process of developing instruments, activities and programmes for testing and assessment. Collaboration is considered to be as important as validity and reliability,…

Drawing on data from eleven preschools in four European countries (Germany, Belgium, Sweden, and the UK), this edited volume explores the progress of preschool children learning English over a period of two years. In the first volume, children's lexical and grammatical comprehension, the quality of L2 input, the effect of immersion on L1…

Drawing on data from eleven preschools in four European countries (Germany, Belgium, Sweden, and the UK), this edited volume explores the progress of preschool children learning English over a period of two years. This edited volume (Volume II) gives details on best practices in bilingual preschools as well as background and training on topics…

This research project addresses the validity of assessments used to measure the performance of English language learners (ELLs), such as those mandated by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB, 2002). The goals of the research are to help educators understand and improve ELL performance by investigating the validity of their current…

Eight articles on the state of the art in language teaching are presented as part of a series on language teaching. The articles, by V. J. Cook, M. Swain and J. Cummins, C. S. Butler, N. E. Enkvist, A. Tosi, P. Meara, and A. Davies, cover the following topics: (1) how languages are actually learned, (2) the cognitive aspects of bilingualism, (3)…

This volume presents papers that dicusss the need for more systematic and rigorous research programs to monitor the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) Proficiency Guidelines and their various implementations. "A Progress Report on the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines, 1982-1986" (David V. Hiple), traces the…

Four articles on language, culture, and interlanguage are included in this volume. The first by Karen Risager, "Sprog, kultur, og internationalisering" ("Language, Culture, and Internationalization") takes issue with the very broad perception that foreign language and culture cannot be separated in instruction. The second article,…

A symposium focusing on problems in the assessment of foreign or second language learning brought seven applied linguists together to discuss three areas of debate: communicative language testing, testing of English for specific purposes, and general language proficiency assessment. In each of these areas, the participants reviewed selected papers…

Assessment activities for English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) instruction, contributed by classroom teachers, are organized according to the primary or predominant emphasis of the activity. Those in the first part of the book focus on alternative methods of assessment, including portfolios, journals, logs, and conferences. The second part discusses…

These 25 papers address issues of second language assessment and curriculum planning. The papers are divided into three categories: theoretical foundations, assessment approaches, and research and policy. Among the specific topics discussed are: whether tests measure language or intelligence, additive versus subtractive bilingualism, the…

Taking into account the British government's decision to include foreign language learning as a foundation subject in the National Curriculum for all school pupils ages 11-16, this guide examines approaches to second language learning for adults. Chapters include the following: (1) The Adult Language Learner (learning as an adult, recognizing…

A collection of papers on the use of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) Proficiency Guidelines for instruction and testing in less commonly taught languages includes: the 1986 ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines; "Testing Speaking Proficiency: The Oral Interview" (Pardee Lowe, Jr., Judith E. Liskin-Gasparro); a…

Papers from a conference on the role of language in the academic achievement of African Americans include: "Language Diversity and Academic Achievement in the Education of African American Students: An Overview of the Issues" (John R. Rickford); "The Language of African American Students in Classroom Discourse" (Courtney B.…

This book covers various aspects of the "graded objectives movement" in England and is intended to help teachers understand the ideas behind the movement and to form working groups to implement it. Graded objectives are understood as those objectives which represent steps in a continuum that could be attempted by all learners who would…