Elicited imitation (EI) is a testing method for learners’ oral language proficiency. One common criticism aimed at EI is that performance might not require linguistic knowledge, but mere rote memorization. This study explores the issue by administering two tests to the same group of students studying English as a second language: (1) a working memory test, and (2) an English EI test. Participan...

We empirically evaluated three theoretical models—the threshold hypothesis, transfer theory, and time-on-task theory—for educatingEnglish language learners (ELLs), with a focus on the role of language factors in explaining achievement differences amongELLs. Participantswere 196 sixth graderswithSpanish languagebackgrounds who started learning English in kindergarten and then were continuously e...

This study aimed to explore the effects of examinees’ perceptions interlocutors’ proficiency on their test results in paired oral tests. A group 22 Korean English as a foreign language (EFL) high school students participated study. They were divided into three groups based high, intermediate, and low interviewed twice: once before after. Each examinee was with tested interlocutors levels. Raw s...

The effects different awareness-raising techniques might have on language learners’ performance have been studied by many researchers. The present study specifically focused on improving EFL learners’ oral narrative task performance in terms of accuracy, fluency and complexity by awareness raising through semantic fields. The participants in the study included 40 intermediate learners whose ini...