a proficiency test is one of the language tests with the goal of assessing/evaluating the language learners' achievement. this test does not deal with language teaching and learning methods. in fact, in a proficiency test, we concentrate on determining the level of the testee’s ability in applying language at the time of administrating the test and for the test taker, it is not important t...

Over time, teachers collect a great deal of information about each student. Integrating that information intelligently requires models for how the students’ proficiency changes over time. Armed with such models, teachers can filter the data—more accurately estimate the student’s current proficiency levels—and forecast the student’s future proficiency level. Furthermore, partially observed Marko...

L2 production of tones has been widely discussed; however, the role of orthography in the learning process has received little attention. Previous studies suggested that the opaque orthography of Chinese characters plays an important role in both L2 production and perception. The present study further investigates the role of different orthographies (Pinyin vs. Chinese characters) in L2 product...

Research on spoken language bilinguals has shown that there is a significant relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and literacy outcomes. The mechanism of SES as a predictor of literacy success has two competing explanations. One assumes a direct impact of SES on literacy through expanded opportunities to read and better maternal mediation of literacy activities; the other assumes an ...

This study investigates the lexical dimension of EFL writing by exploring the relationship between lexical diversity and EFL writing proficiency. The relationship is explored through an analysis of forty-five email texts written by Chinese high school students that were taken from a Chinese National Matriculation English Test (NMET) practice writing test. Type-token ratio (TTR) and D (a measure...

Bilingual experience is dynamic and poses a challenge for researchers to develop instruments that capture its relevant dimensions. The present study examined responses from a questionnaire administered to 110 heterogeneous bilingual young adults. These questions concern participants' language use, acquisition history and self-reported proficiency. The questionnaire responses and performances on...

Fundamental movement skill (FMS) proficiency or the ability to perform basic skills (e.g., throwing, catching and jumping) has been linked to participation in lifelong physical activity. FMS proficiency amongst children has declined in the previous 15 years, with more children performing FMS at a low-mastery level. These declines may help explain the insufficient levels of participation in heal...

Far too many laboratories consider proficiency testing just a necessary evil, little more than periodic pass–fail exercises we perform solely to meet regulatory requirements. In addition, too many of us belittle point-ofcare (POC) testing as a passing fad, a technology so inferior to what we use in our own laboratories that it hardly warrants our attention. Clearly, a report that combines these...

This study investigated how vowel epenthesis, a typical suprasegmental error produced by Japanese learners of English, is realized in their speech production of L2 English. We investigated two aspects: (i) whether loanword epenthesis phonology in Japanese transfers to English speech production, and (ii) how learners’ English proficiency level affects vowel epenthesis. In Japanese loanword phono...