A quasi-experimental study investigated the effectiveness of inductive and deductive types of instruction in the acquisition of a complex grammatical structure, the passive voice. The participants were two groups (n = 34) of second-year Japanese students from a vocational school who had three treatment lessons designed for each group embedded into…

This study aims to investigate English as a foreign language (EFL) learners' use of context information under various noise conditions. The participants were seven Japanese undergraduate students. A noise test adopted from the Speech-Perception-in-Noise (SPIN) test (Kalikow et al., 1977) was used. Four signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) conditions (SNR =…

The study examines the effects of using computer delivered Processing Instruction (PI) to teach English reflexives. Thirty intermediate ESL learners participated in the pretest-treatment-posttest study. Participants received the input-based PI activities. Gains were assessed by traditional offline tasks such as sentence interpretation and…

Research has suggested the important role of vocabulary knowledge in second language (L2) speaking proficiency. However, earlier studies tended to disregard the congruence in test format between assessing vocabulary knowledge and speaking skills with the former predominantly measured in written format. The current study measured vocabulary…

As digital technology is becoming an increasingly critical component of education, learners' socioeconomic status (SES) and technology use are becoming more important in their learning. In the context of English learning, the present study modeled how learners' SES and their perception of technology use for language learning are linked to their…

In many high-stakes testing situations, test-takers are not allowed to draw on external writing resources while writing, a practice observed more frequently in classroom settings. This may pose problems with the representativeness of test tasks and score interpretations. This study investigates the domain definition of one particular test known as…

This study investigated the effects of two different planning time conditions (i.e., operational [20 s] and extended length [90 s]) for the lecture listening-into-speaking tasks of the "TOEFL iBT"® test for candidates at different proficiency levels. Seventy international students based in universities and language schools in the United…

In recent decades, there has been an attempt to introduce the concept of "assessment for learning" into English language classrooms based on a belief that assessment can be utilized to assist learners in the learning process, not just for teachers to make judgments and decisions. In so doing, the learning-oriented assessment frameworks…

Recent conceptualizations of L2 motivation have regarded target language learners' goal-directed visions as the core feature of directed motivational currents; that is, a period of intense and enduring motivation in pursuit of a favorable personal vision. This study reports on a multiple-case study designed to explore the effective factors on…

Apology may be defined as "a compensatory action for an offense committed by the speaker which has affected the hearer" (Marquez-Reiter, 2000, p. 44), and a compliment is another speech act "which explicitly or implicitly attributes credit to someone other than the speaker... which is positively valued by the speaker and the…

This study aims to disclose the Iranian university teachers' perceptions of the fundamentals of language assessment literacy (LAL). To this aim, using purposive sampling, eighteen university teachers from two Iranian universities were invited to participate in semi-structured interviews. Their viewpoints were audio-recorded, transcribed, and…

The focus of this article is on the design and administration of an online computerized dynamic assessment of an important area of pragmatics: implicature comprehension (i.e., indirect meaning). The assessment centered on indirect acceptances, refusals, and opinions. Drawing on Vygotskian psychology, this assessment had a dual aim: (a) to evaluate…

Linking one's contribution to those of others' is a salient feature demonstrating interactional competence in paired/group speaking assessments. While such responses are to be constructed spontaneously while engaging in real-time interaction, the amount and nature of pre-task preparation in paired/group speaking assessments may have an influence…

This study investigated a range of fluency, grammar, vocabulary, and content features of young language students' speaking performances, using a discourse-analytic approach. In total, 179 test takers' responses to the speaking section of the "TOEFL Junior"® Comprehensive test were selected for analysis. Mixed-design ANOVAs were used to…

This report examines Austin Independent School District's fifth-grade native English speaking students' performance on the Spanish language proficiency assessment. Spanish language proficiency was assessed with the STAMP 4Se assessment, which was given in the Spring 2019 semester to fifth-grade native English speaking students enrolled in the…