This study is a follow-up to previous research conducted in 2012 on computer-assisted language testing (CALT) that applied a survey approach to investigate the use of technology in sign language testing worldwide. The goal of the current study was to replicate the 2012 study and to obtain updated information on the use of technology in sign…

This paper provides empirical evidence on students' achievements determinants in Sub-Saharan Africa based on a sample of 26602 students from the ten countries that participated in the PASEC 2014 assessment. By using a two-level hierarchical linear model, I find that learning inequalities are primarily explained by differences in schools'…

Background: Reading is one of the most complex and exclusively human mental activities. It is a foundational skill for all learning, whether at primary, secondary or tertiary levels. If students do not master effective strategies for reading, they may not be successful independent learners. The ability to comprehend written texts and answer…

Language assessment literacy (LAL) has become a critical topic in English language teaching since the late 1990s. Unfortunately, this is mainly due to the fact that so many English language teachers are not assessment literate. In other words, many English language teachers lack the knowledge and skills to write good language tests, evaluate the…

This study examined the heterogeneity in the English-as-a-second-language (ESL) test population by modeling the relationship between test-taker background characteristics and test performance as measured by the "TOEFL iBT"® using a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) with covariate approach. The background characteristics studied…

Considerable research about standard setting has revolved around a U.S.-centric policy context. That is, over the past decade, conclusions about thought processes and the interaction of education policy and panelists' judgments have been based on assumptions of comparable policy settings. However, whether these assumptions generalize to other…

Standardized tests have been selected as a key assessment factor in expanding the academic achievement of the national student population. However, these tests position immigrant students at the risk of academic failure, leading education experts to search for new strategies and teaching models. The "Handbook of Research on Assessment…

Discussions of multilingualism in education, as exemplified by the articles in this issue, can be critically reevaluated using perspectives available from poststructuralism. These perspectives focus on the potential ambiguity of language and language practices. This, in turn, encourages us to question simple notions of the relationship of learners…

Analyzes briefly the results of a questionnaire distributed to secondary English teachers in Ghana, Nigeria, and Ethiopia, concerning the use of objective tests, their effects on teaching, and teacher attitudes toward them. School leaving certificate examinations in these countries are closely linked to employment opportunities. (MSE)

Efforts to better the school Leaving Exams in English of a large African state lead to the belief that schools should do away with them completely. Where this cannot be done, a thorough, systematic evaluation of reading comprehension, structure, and usage should be combined with productive integrative evaluation. (SCC)

Suggests that any model of washback must include insights from the theory of educational innovation to help explain why tests do not always have the desired or feared effect. Key concepts in educational innovation are reviewed, showing how these concepts are manifested in a case study in washback and outlining how they are being applied in recent…

Addresses the question of mother-tongue education of children, especially in francophone countries of Africa. It seeks to contribute to the debate on the integration of local languages into educational systems in multilingual settings by stressing the opposing cultural messages carried by official and indigenous languages. (Author/JL)

This conference focused on two themes: research in testing and the cooperative research program, and testing in the language arts. The morning session was concerned with the impact of the federal Cooperative Research Program on educational research. Papers were entitled: The Support of Measurement Projects by the Cooperative Research Program.…

This is the tenth annual issue of the UCLA TESL (teaching English as a second language) workpapers. It includes the following papers: (1) "An Attempt to Model the Role of Cognitions in Language Learning," by R.L. Allwright; (2) "A Comparison of Language Proficiency Tests," by J. Donald Bowen; (3) "Language Study Through…

This document consists of the three issues of the serial "VOX" published in 1989-1991. Major articles in these issues include: "The Original Languages of Australia"; "UNESCO and Universal Literacy"; "Language Shift and Maintenance in Torres Strait"; "Maintaining and Developing Italian in…