Second Language Testing for Student Evaluation and Classroom Research and its accompanying Student Workbook are introductory?level resources for classroom teachers of all levels of experience, and early?career graduate students in applied linguistics, TESOL, and second/foreign language teaching programs. The book gives a balance between practice and theory for student evaluation, and also aims for readers to use testing to connect to classroom research and to their own teaching. Indeed, Second Language Testing for Student Evaluation and Classroom Research aims at self?discovery and empowerment for readers, even as second language testing as a field undergoes major shifts in scope and areas of concern. Second Language Testing offer a strong basis for readers who wish to analyze and improve their own classroom tests, and for readers who wish to evaluate standardized tests they are required to use, or are thinking of using. We work with the general idea, “OK, now that I know test X has these strengths and weaknesses, what do I do?” Or, “Alright here are students’ scores, now how do I use them in my teaching?” At the same time our book provides more in?depth treatments of key testing topics for those readers who want to know “Why?” and “How?” “Why these terms?” “Why this or that analysis?” “Why does it work?” “How does it work?” “What do these numbers mean?” “How do I use them and how do I explain them to my students, my colleagues, my supervisors?” Second Language Testing for Student Evaluation and Classroom Research includes five Appendices for those readers whose interests continue into more advanced areas. Our information and observations on issues such as rater training (Appendix B) are current and discerning, and our Reference section and Glossary would be valued by any advanced testing practitioner or researcher. Second Language Testing is useful to readers at varied levels of engagement, at their choice.

North American universities depend on international teaching assistants (ITAs) as a substantial part of the teaching labor force, which has led to the idea of an ‘ITA problem’, a deficiency model which is framed as a divergence between ITAs’ linguistic competence and undergraduates’ and their parents’ expectations. This outdated positioning of ITAs as deficient diminishes the invaluable role they play within the academy. This book argues instead for an approach to ITA which recognizes them as multilingual, skilled, migrant professionals who participate in and are discursively constructed through various participant frameworks, modalities and activities. The chapters in this volume offer state-of-the-art research into ITA using a variety of methods and approaches, and as such constitute a transdisciplinary perspective which argues for the importance of dialogue between research and practice.

Volume III of the Handbook of Research in Second Language Teaching and Learning, like Volumes I and II, is a comprehensive, state-of-the-art overview of current research into social contexts of second language (L2)/foreign language (FL) teaching and learning; language policy; curriculum; types of instruction; incremental language skills such as listening, speaking, reading, writing, vocabulary, and grammar; international communication; pragmatics; assessment and testing. It differs from earlier volumes in its main purpose—to provide a more in-depth discussion and detailed focus on the development of the essential language skills required for any type of communication: speaking, listening, reading, vocabulary, grammar, and writing. Volume III preserves continuity with previous volumes in its coverage of all the classical areas of research in L2/FL teaching and learning and applied linguistics, but rather than offering a historical review of disciplinary traditions, it explores innovations and new directions of research, acknowledges the enormous complexity of teaching and learning the essential language abilities, and offers a diversity of perspectives. Chapter authors are all leading authorities in their disciplinary areas. What’s new in Volume III? Updates the prominent areas of research, including the sub-disciplines addressed in Volumes I and II, and represents the disciplinary mainstays Considers and discusses perspectives held by different schools of thought on the what, the how, and the why of teaching foundational language skills, including theories, pedagogical principles, and their implementation in practice Captures new and ongoing developments and trends in the key areas of L2/FL teaching and learning, and innovative research topics that have gained substantial recognition in current publications, including the role of corpora, technology, and digital literacy in L2/FL teaching and learning Examines new trends in language pedagogy and research, such as an increased societal emphasis on teaching academic language for schooling, somewhat contradictory definitions of literacy, and the growing needs for instruction in intercultural communication.

This Handbook, with 45 chapters written by the world’s leading scholars in second language acquisition (SLA) and language testing, dives into the important interface between SLA and language testing: shared ground where researchers seek to measure second language performance to better understand how people learn their second languages. The Handbook also reviews how to best measure and evaluate the second language (L2) learners’ personal characteristics, backgrounds, and learning contexts to better understand their L2 learning trajectories. Taking a transdisciplinary approach to research, the book builds upon recent theorizing and measurement principles from the fields of applied linguistics, cognitive science, psychology, psycholinguistics, psychometrics, educational measurement, and social psychology. The Handbook is divided into six key sections: (1) Assessment concepts for SLA researchers, (2) Building instruments for SLA research, (3) Measuring individual differences, (4) Measuring language development, (5) Testing specific populations, and (6) Measurement principles for SLA researchers.

This latest volume of the Register of Educational Research in the United Kingdom lists all the major research projects being undertaken in Britain during the latter months of 1992, the whole of 1993 and 1994 and the early months of 1995. Each entry provides names and addresses of the researchers, a detailed abstract, the source and amount of the grant(where applicable), the length of the project and details of published material about the research.

This two volume handbook provides a comprehensive examination of policy, practice, research and theory related to English Language Teaching in international contexts. More than 70 chapters highlight the research foundation for best practices, frameworks for policy decisions, and areas of consensus and controversy in second language acquisition and pedagogy. The Handbook provides a unique resource for policy makers, educational administrators, and researchers concerned with meeting the increasing demand for effective English language teaching. It offers a strongly socio-cultural view of language learning and teaching. It is comprehensive and global in perspective with a range of fresh new voices in English language teaching research.