As English is widely accepted as a lingua franca in today's world, the importance of the language has been acknowledged globally in the present case. To rank the countries in terms of their English language proficiency, the EF Proficiency Index is prepared each year. In this study, five countries having the highest scores according to the Index…

We examined the concurrent relationship between narrative skills (the Renfrew Bus Story Test) and core language measures (vocabulary, grammar and verbal memory) at age 4 and the longitudinal relationship between core language and listening comprehension skills at age 7 in a sample of 215 children using latent variables and structural equation…

Proficient use of spatial terms such as "under," "to the left of" or "in front of" is a central component of daily communication and is important in the development of language and spatial cognition. Here we examine spatial language abilities in intellectually high-functioning individuals with autism spectrum…

A large number of children are today receiving special education in Norway. The high cost to society and possible long-term consequences for the students make it important to understand the interrelationship of the causes and effects related to receiving special education services. Unfortunately, at present there are only few rigorous studies of…

Second-language learners display poorer general language skills in the language used at school than their monolingual peers, which is a concern because general language skills (vocabulary, grammar, language expression, and comprehension) provide the foundation for later academic success. In a randomized controlled trial, we examined the efficacy…

The Norwegian government recommends a systematic language assessment of all four-year-olds as part of the general health surveillance program for the purpose of identifying children at risk of language delay. This study aimed to investigate the construct validity of the recommended language screening tool called LANGUAGE4 [SPRÅK4] by first…

This study focused on English as L2 in a group of Norwegian dyslexic 12 year olds, compared to an age and gender matched control group. Norwegian school children learn English from the first grades on. The subjects were assessed with a test battery of verbal and written tasks. First, they were given a comprehension task; second, a model sentence…

Eighteen papers, 11 in English, and 6 in Finnish and 1 in German are presented on the general theme "Language--Knowledge and Skill," a theme that emphasizes the need to examine the communicative goal in foreign language education from the perspective of both theory and practice. The English-language articles on foreign language testing,…

Data from a national survey of students and teachers working within Norway's system of mixed-ability instruction in the elementary and early secondary schools suggest that, after ten years of implementation, the teaching and testing system is workable and that some aspects work relatively well. Instruction in English as a second language in a…