Discusses the relationship between the terms psycholinguistics and applied linguistics, and in the process explores key issues in multilingual processing, such as the structure of the bilingual lexicon, language choice in production and perception, and the language mode. (Author/VWL)

Discusses the choice of an English placement test. Suggests that English language screening decisions need to be examined from within the context of a particular institution's situation. Provides questions to be addressed before choosing an appropriate screening device. (Author/VWL)

Anthony Bruton comments on Brown and Hudson's article "The Alternatives in Language Assessment," (v32 n4 Win 1998). Raises questions about some of their definitions and categories and suggests additional items that need to be considered by test takers. Brown and Hudson reply with clarifications of terms and definition of the scope of their paper.…

The ACTFL oral proficiency interview (OPI) and the Interagency Language Roundtable (ILR) scale provide both a testing method and a set of rating factors for evaluating proficiency. Both are closely related to actual language tasks identified as critical for government employees. Over time, the scale has been expanded to include four skills, a…

This interview took place at the Language Testing Research Colloquium in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (at the Chateau Laurier Hotel on July 21, 2005), at which Professor Bernard Spolsky was presented with the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate/International Language Testing Association Lifetime Achievement Award. The conference…

The French as a Second Language model tests for advanced levels 7, 8, and 9 were designed to evaluate students' language performance, as outlined in the program of studies for Alberta, Canada, in listening and reading comprehension and oral and written production, communication skills, culture, language and general language knowledge. The tests…

This paper highlights central topics in language testing theory and practice that are relevant to the examination of modern language teaching and learning. Part 1 gives a time-lapse picture of the development of models of language competence in language testing, discusses the distinction between descriptive models and working models, and reviews…

This manual provides instructors in Peace Corps language training programs with information about two kinds of classroom testing: formative, ongoing testing and summative testing that occurs at the end of an instructional period. The first of the manual's four chapters on the purposes of language testing, discusses language testing within a…

This study focused on the acquisition of the dative verb by Chinese learners of English as a Second Language. The study proposes that the learner acquires basic semantic structure for the double-object dative via the "near universal linking rules that map thematic roles to syntactic positions. On semantic grounds, the learner might then use…

By being creative in preparing tests and by allowing creativity on the part of students, language teachers can incorporate many of the principles associated with proficiency-oriented instruction into a traditional test format. Such test strategies are based on the following: (1) testing in context is better than testing with a series of unrelated…

This study investigated the effect of writing task topic on learner performance in a second-language writing test, in this case the Michigan English Language Assessment Battery designed to test proficiency in English as a Second Language. The 64 topics or "prompts" used in the test (offered as pairs of options) were categorized according…

Research has been done on the relationship between students' language learning strategies and test-taking strategies, but often such investigations have taken place after a time lapse. This project entailed asking students to evaluate and explain how they take reading comprehension examinations in a foreign language while they were actually taking…

Language testing is an area of applied linguistics that combines the exercise of professional judgment about language, learning, and the nature of the achievement of language learning with empirical data about student performance and, by inference, their abilities. The relationship between judgments and empirical data in language testing is…

Some of the issues involved in proficiency-oriented testing of foreign language listening, reading, and writing skills-- language modalities paid less attention currently than oral skills-- are examined. These general issues are discussed: What is proficiency?; the relationship of the four modalities and proficiency testing; proficiency testing v.…

An answer to the question of what sociolinguistics has to offer to the art of language assessment is sought in exploration of the following topics: (1) a history of the development of sociolinguistics and an outline of the research on dialectology; (2) a review of basic sociolinguistic foundations and theories about language, society, domains of…