ADLP

         + A. Interagency Language Roundtable (ILR) Scale

         + B. American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages

         + C. Other Scales: SIL International (formerly known as the Summer
        Institute of Linguistics)

Malone, Margaret E., Benjamin Rifkin, Donna Christian and Dora E. Johnson.
        “Attaining High Levels of Proficiency: Challenges for Foreign Language
        Education in the United States.” ERIC/CLL News Bulletin 26 (2003):2-4.

        This article discusses the process of attaining high foreign language proficiency levels, and existing resources. It further presents a case study (Russian), elaborates on current challenges on the pathways of attaining advanced/superior levels, and gives recommendations for strategies for increasing the pool of language learners, who achieve these levels.

(To read the complete article online: http://www.cal.org/ericcll/news/2003spring/attain.html)

Leaver B.L., and Sabine Atwell. 2002. “Preliminary Qualitative Findings from a         study of “The processes leading to the Advanced Professional Proficiency
         Level(ILR 4)” In Developing professional-level language proficiency, ed. B.L.
        Leaver and B. Skekhtman. New York: Cambridge University Press.

        This study is ethnographic and empirical in nature. It examines the process by which highly proficient language users have reached near-native levels of proficiency. It is based on a preliminary study conducted by the National Foreign Language Center, with the assistance of the Defense Language Institute and the ADLP Center Director. A partial analysis of preliminary results from this study has been published by Leaver and Atwell in a collection of articles on high level proficiency, Developing Professional-Level Language Proficiency (Leaver, B.L. & B. S. Shekhtman, eds., Cambridge University Press, 2002).

For further reading on the topic see Bibliography:High level Language Acquisition

Simon, P. “The Cultural Problem” In The Tongue-tied American: Confronting the
        Foreign Language Crisis. New York: Continuum, 1980.

        This article describes the American mindset in regards to foreign language acquisition. Paul Simon writes: “The word foreign has an unfavorable connotation in our culture. When we describe something as “foreign to our way of life,” we do not speak in a complimentary way of that “foreign” thing; a “foreign” particle in our eye, for example.” He further says: “We feel the need to always negotiate from a position of strength and to have other nations learn English and adopt our ways.” He discusses the sources of this kind of attitude, and suggests how to improve this situation.

Kramcsh, C. J. “Socialization and Literacy in Foreign Language: Learning Through
        Interaction”. Theory into Practice, XXVI, 4.2001, 243-250

        This article discusses different types of emphasis in language study. While the current trend is heavily oriented towards generative linguistics, psycholinguistics, and cognitive psychology, sociology, cultural anthropology, and sociolinguistics are hardly ever discussed. Kramsch elaborates on differences of language study in Europe vs. the United States. Kramsch writes: “Whereas the social conditions of migrant workers in Europe in the 1970’s forced the European Economic Community to devise a more communicative, socio-politically engaged, foreign language pedagogy, foreign language education in this country was jolted into social consciousness only later, and for reasons of national security,” (Perkins, 1980; Simon, 1980). Kramsch further states that interaction with native speakers is many times more beneficial to students, than what they are taught by teachers. She also discusses how written language and spoken language require two different pedagogies, and that they cannot be treated the same.

Kramsch, C.J. “Language Study as Border Study: Experiencing Difference”. European
        Journal of Education, 28, 3. 1993, 349-358.

        This article discusses the problematic nature of teaching culture in foreign language classes. Kramsch states: “Culture has become a particularly slippery concept. Beyond national cultures there are so many other cultures of the mind that many language teachers are yearning for the days when it was enough to teach just the rules of grammar and the dictionary definitions of words, i.e. safe topics.”(…) “The purpose of this paper is to describe the rationale, design and implementation of a cross-cultural teacher training seminar where such a process was made visible and subsequently became the object of analysis and interpretation by the participants.” (Kramsch 349). In this seminar three teachers of French from different countries were questioned about the way they teach culture. This paper elaborates and analyzes each teacher’s responses.

Miyake Geron, S. “Cultural Competency: How is it Measured? Does It Make a
        Difference?” Recognizing Diversity in Aging Fall 2002, 39-45.

        This article discusses the growing demand for culturally competent professionals in the work place. It states: “The movement presents an opportunity to begin to correct the incomplete and often inaccurate presentation of people of color and other historically underserved and undervalued populations that has therefore characterized research, scholarship, and professional education.” (Miyake Geron). However, this shift has challenged scholars to develop mechanisms to test cultural competence; a study which is still in progress.

For further reading on the topic see Bibliography:In Depth Cultural Knowledge

Meeting Processing Demands and Learner Needs in the Development of Advanced
        Listening Comprehension, by the LangNet Initiative of the National Foreign
        Language Center and Craig Chaudron (University of Hawaii).

        This article describes the main components or factors in assessing and influencing proficiency in listening performance using media (live, tape, television, radio, cinema, video, computer-CD/DVD). The paper states: “Our underlying assumption regarding instructional procedures is that the target of authentic text and task performance should be established as the curricular goals, while to achieve these is required the development of pedagogical tasks which gradually manipulate variations and combinations of 1) easier to more difficult texts, 2) easier to more difficult tasks, 3) systematic engagement of distinct metacognitive strategies, and 4) most important for advanced learner development, substantial amounts of L2 input on phonological, lexical, discourse-and schema-related knowledge, along with cultural/historical information

For further reading on the topic see Bibliography: High-Level Language Teaching

Rubin, J. The Design of Materials to Promote Listening Skills in Superior/Plus
        Proficiency Language Learners using LangNet

        “This paper presents one model - Language Learner Self-Management [LSM] - based on research in self-directed learning, which can be used in the design of materials for superior/plus language learners.” (1). Rubin suggests bringing more authentic materials into the learner’s reach through media. Rubin states: “Some of the features which may cause difficulty in listening to any language include the following: linguistic features (particular accents, nuances of intonation, tone, and rhythm; unusual reductions; special paralinguistic (body language, gestures, and the fit of these with language) features, slang; sociolinguistic and cultural references; specific rhetorical features of wide variety of genres; and the relation of video in speech.”

Doughty, C. The Nature and Development of Highly Fluent L2 Listening. May 30, 2003.
        Listening Symposium National Foreign Language Center.

        This paper gives ideas and recommendations of how to develop online listening materials for advanced proficiency foreign language learners based on LangNet and current research. Doughty elaborates on fluent listener’s characteristics: “It may be that the degree of automaticity of access to the lexicon and the degree of elaboration of lexical entries are factors that characterize superior listening ability.” She further discusses the problems in L2 listening (differences in spoken language and written language), gives suggestions on how to enhance learner’s listening ability, explains the importance of an already existing lexical competence, presents processing results in L1 and L2, and recommends specific listening activities.

Blake, R.J. “The Role of Technology in Second Language Learning” In Learning
        Foreign and Second Languages, ed. Heidi Byrnes. New York: Modern Language
        Association of America, 1998.

        This paper examines the pros and cons of technology in foreign language instruction. Even though technology has not succeeded in replacing language teachers, it remains a valid tool for instruction, mostly for bringing authentic materials closer to language students. Blake discusses hardware and software needs, the learner’s role, technology implementation (hardware and software), media exemplars, hypothesizes on the virtual classroom, new and up-dated technology involving pedagogy, and finally discusses current research and assessment.

For further reading on the topic see Bibliography: Technology

Stansfield, C.W. “Language Aptitude Reconsidered” ERIC Clearinghouse on Languages
        and Linguistics Washington DC, 1989.

        This article discusses the importance of foreign language aptitude tests among government agencies. It explains existing tests, as well as suggesting the development of new aptitude tests according to the latest works of cognitive psychologists, and concludes with an outline of how to create such a new test.

Bonk, W.D. Examinee Abilities and Task Difficulty in Task-based Second Language
        Performance Assessment

        This article summarizes findings from investigations into the development and use of a prototype English language task-based performance test. Data includes performances by 90 examinees on 13 complex and skills-integrative tasks, a priori estimations of examinee proficiency differences, a priori estimations of task difficulty based on cognitive processing demands, performance ratings according to task-specific as well as holistic scales and criteria, and examinee self-ratings. Findings indicate that the task-based test could inform intended inferences about examinees’ abilities to accomplish specific tasks as well as inferences about examinees’ likely abilities with other tasks. These findings, as well as study limitations, are further discussed in light of the intended uses for performance assessment within language education, and recommendations are made for needed research into the interaction between task features, cognitive processing and language performance. [Abstract from Author]

Bachman, L.F. Some Reflections on Task-based Language Performance Assessment
        Language Testing v19 n4 p453-76 Oct 2002.

        The complexities of task-based language performance assessment (TBLPA) have lead language testers to reconsider many of the fundamental issues about what we want to assess, how we go about it and what works of evidence we need to provide in order to justify the ways in which we use our assessments. One claim of TBLPA is that such assessments can be used to make predictions about performance on future language use tasks outside the test itself. I argue that there are several problems with supporting such predictions. These problems are related to task selection, generalizability and extrapolation. Because of the complexity and diversity of tasks in most ‘real-life’ domains, the evidence of content relevance and representativeness that is required to support the use of test scores for prediction is extremely difficult to provide. A more general problem is the way in which difficulty is conceptualized, both in the way tasks are described and in current measurement models. The conceptualization of ‘difficulty features’ confounds tasks characteristics with test-takers’ language ability and introduces a hypothetical ‘difficulty’ factor as a determinant of test performance. In current measurement models, ‘difficulty’ is essentially an artifact of test performance, and not a characteristic of assessment tasks themselves. Because of these problems, current approaches to using task characteristics alone to predict difficulty are unlikely to yield consistent or meaningful results. As a way forward, a number of suggestions are provided for both language testing research and practice. [Abstract by Author]

Byrnes, H. The Role of Task and Task-based assessment in a content-oriented
         collegiate foreign language curriculum Language Testing v19 n4 p419-37 Oct         2002.

        This article explores the role of task and task-based assessment in a collegiate foreign language (FL) department that shifted its entire undergraduate curriculum from a form-based normative approach to a language-use and language-meaning orientation for instruction. It examines how the demands for specificity and characterize task-based assessment contributed significantly to an enhanced knowledge base and a new educational culture on the part of practitioners, faculty and graduate students, primarily in literary cultural studies. Deeper insights were obtained not only in terms of assessment but also with regard to the relationship between (1) curriculum, instruction and learning goals and (2) outcomes in such an adult FL program and, ultimately, with regard to possibilities for an expansive interpretation of the notion of task itself. [Abstract from Author]

Bachman, L.F. Constructing Measures and Measuring Constructs

        This article discusses a study, which took the form of construct validation, in which both the hypothesized constructs of language proficiency and putative measures of those constructs were subjected to empirical scrutiny in what is essentially a special case of theory verification. It touches on models of operationalization, the analysis of data, and the relationships among measures, providing tables and graphs for comparison

For further reading on the topic see Bibliography: Testing