Major Proficieny Examinations

TOEFL - Official site of the Test of English as a Foreign Language. Includes tutorials, practice questions, downloads, and information on both the computer-based and paper-based versions of the test. Also markets test preparation materials. Cambridge EFL OnLine - Provides information for students, teachers, and prospective teachers, about the range examinations and schemes offered throughout the world. IELTS: International English Language Testing System - Handbook, test explanations and information about obtaining practice material. TOEIC - Official site of the Test of English for International Communication. Provides information about the test, tips from the test developers, and a list of test sites around the world. Validated and Certified Proficiency Testing - Corporate and proficiency testing in many languages, including English. Certified by ACTFL and the test is transferable for 3 college credits by ACE.

Volume 13 of TESL-EJ: Special Issue on English Education in Iran

Editor: A. Mehdi Riazi


Overview

Hossein Farhady, Fattaneh Sajadi Hezaveh, and Hora Hedayati,Reflections on Foreign Language Education in Iran,  (pdf)

Teachers and Teaching
Ramin Akbari and Nabi Karimi Allvar, L2 Teacher Characteristics as Predictors of Students’ Academic Achievement,  (pdf)
Sepideh Fotovatian, Surviving as an English Teacher in the West: A Case Study of Iranian English Teachers in Australia,  (pdf)
Bahman Gorjian, Seyyed Rahim Moosavinia, and Azadeh Jabripour, Dramatic Performance in Teaching Drama in EFL Contexts,  (pdf)

Instructional Materials
A. Mehdi Riazi and Narjes Mosalanejad, Evaluation of Learning Objectives in Iranian High-school and Pre-university English Textbooks Using Bloom’s Taxonomy,  (pdf)

Learners
F. Behjat and F. Sadighi, Iranian English Majors’ L2 Grammar Development: Linguistic Threshold Hypothesis,  (pdf)
Hossein Shokouhi and Gholam-Ali Mirsalari., Collocational Knowledge versus General Linguistic Knowledge among Iranian EFL Learners,  (pdf)

Context
P. Maftoon, M. Yazdani Moghaddam, H. Gholebostan, and S. R. Beh-Afarin, Privatization of English Education in Iran: A Feasibility Study,  (pdf)

Writing and Written Texts
Vahid Aryadoust, Investigating Writing Sub-skills in Testing English as a Foreign Language: A Structural Equation Modeling Study,  (pdf)
Nasser Rashidi and Marzieh Souzandehfar, Text-Organizing Metatext in Research Articles: An English-Persian Contrastive Analysis,  (pdf)

Language Testing Resources Website

This site designed and maintained by Dr Glenn Fulcher. 


Since 1995 the purpose of the Language Testing Resources web site has always been to act as a reference guide to language testing related resources on the Internet by providing a history of, and links to, language testing related information, including publications that are freely available on other domains. However, it's purpose has broadened over the years. Now, resources on language testing, such as articles, features, videos and audio, are made freely available for language teachers, language testers, and students of language testing, applied linguistics, and languages. Teachers of language testing are encouraged use the resources on this site in their own courses, but are requested to establish links to this site and not copy materials onto other domains.

The April 2010 issue of the English Language Gazette Digital

If you are already registered please log in as usual using your email address. If you have not yet registered you can REGISTER FOR FREE!

Simply fill out your details and get the world of ELT at your fingertips each month.

In the April issue (IATEFL conference special, with 12 extra pages!):

NEWS: UK schools in visa meltdown, 'profitable' Geos Australia schools collapse, EFL boom on Pacific island of Vanuatu, Arizona 'English Language Learner' parents in revolt

HIGHER EDUCATION NEWS: EFL teachers owed £87 million by Italian universities - David Petrie of the Italian foreign lecturers' union on their 30-year struggle for justice

ACCREDITATION: Centres of excellence - the British Council inspectors' top institutions revealed

PROSPECTS: Our 'secret shopper' investigates summer school Director of Studies jobs.

MANAGEMENT: A school manager's guide to marketing exam courses, how to make teachers more productive, Central American boom in EFL for call centre training

EAP: 'Streamline' author Peter Viney says students from 'non-Roman' alphabet cultures aren't getting enough help to master written English, EAP flourishes in Australia, 'mysterious' new rules hit UK private sector

IATEFL CONFERENCE SPECIAL: Interviews with chairs of IATEFL affiliates in five very different countries. (IATEFL conference, 7-11 April, Harrogate, UK)

TEACHING MATTERS: Being bilingual keeps dementia at bay, common misunderstandings by Arabic-speakers learning English, teacher training in Central America and Australia.

REVIEWS: 'Ready for Ielts', 'English for Legal Professionals', 'Networking in English'.

The March 2010 issue of the English Language Gazette Digital

If you are already registered please log in as usual using your email address. If you have not yet registered you can REGISTER FOR FREE!

Simply fill out your details and get the world of ELT at your fingertips each month.

In the March issue:

NEWS: Are New York’s ‘charter schools’ failing English language learners? Dog learns English; chaos as UK Borders Agency suspends over 100 schools; recession bites in Thai EFL sector, national shame at Miss Singapore’s poor English; SAT test fraudsters cross time zones 

HIGHER EDUCATION NEWS: English-medium university courses boom in Israel

ASSOCIATION NEWS: UK Esol teacher’s association Natecla on training and lobbying

PROSPECTS: Thailand: Tefl training hotspot.

MANAGEMENT: Cooperate with your competition to provide free teacher training? Yes, that’s what Sussex Director of Studies Association have successfully done.   

As governments insist would-be migrants gain English before they arrive, could local language schools cash in by preparing emigrating students?   

EAP: US university foundation courses special – UK-style foundation courses are on the rise in the US, but are they suited to American higher education? And why are some American universities so upset by this development?

TEACHING MATTERS: We look at the theory of multiple intelligences in EFL, and ask whether the evidence supports this and other new teaching methods.

REVIEWS: Must-have books for teachers and learners 

The January 2010 issue of the English Language Gazette Digital

If you are already registered, please log in as usual using your email address. If you have not yet registered you can REGISTER FOR FREE! Simply fill out your details and get the world of ELT at your fingertips each month.

In the January issue:

NEWS: Geos Japan denies bankruptcy rumours; Wall street closes in Valencia, UK suspends visa applications from students in some Chinese provinces as backlog on visas in Britain builds up ;  Ontario clamps down on private colleges.   

HIGHER EDUCATION NEWS: European universities use English medium degrees to target international market

EL  MARKET REPORT: Thailand rolls out EFL reforms, South Africa waits on World Cup boom.

ACCREDITATION: UK foundation year programmes - the hole in the UK accrediation system?

MANAGEMENT: The value of diversification    

TEACHING MATTERS: The most comprehensive guide to Masters in the UK and Ireland

REVIEWS: Must have DVDs for teacher trainers and trainees  

Exam English

This web site is for people studying for an English language exam.These pages contain free online practice tests for the most important international ESL/EFL exams: IELTS, TOEFL, TOEIC, and the Cambridge ESOL exams such as CPE, CAE, FCE, and PET. You can also find out information about the different exams.

How to write a critical article review

The guideline that can be downloaded from HERE can help you summarize and review a paper critically. This can be of use to all researchers who might be involved with reviewing an acaedemic paper and may not know how to manage it in a comprehensive manner. The guideline begins with some advice on how to read the articles and what elements to focus on. Then, a tentative format is presented that can be used by reviewers. 

LSP2010: 7th International Language for Specific Purposes Seminar

May 4, 2010: Malaysia


The 7th international conference is an extension of the previous six conferences which were successfully organised – two at national level and four at international level. The previous conference, LSP 2008 attracted about 100 papers from Malaysia and all over the world with presenters from 20 different countries. LSP 2010 hopes to bring together language practitioners from the industry, institutions of higher learning, and all other institutions to share both their knowledge and skills to enhance human capital development through good language practices and effective communication skills.

Click on the title of this post to enter the conference site. 

Free Access to SAGE Reference Online

Free Access from April 1 – May 15, 2010


SAGE Reference is currently offering free access to its award-winning content on SAGE Reference Online.
The SAGE Reference Online platform now hosts more than 160 authoritative, interdisciplinary handbooks and encyclopedias across the social sciences.


Click HERE to register for your free access. 

3rd International ELT Conference, Telling ELT Tales out of School

The Eastern Mediterranean University, Cyprus: May 5, 2010


The organizing committee of the 3rd International ELT conference "Telling ELT Tales out of School" would like to invite practicing teachers, teacher educators and teacher researchers to share their tales about learners, learning, teachers, teaching, and innovative practices in their contexts.

Themes:

Maximizing Learning:
-Learner-centered Instruction
-Learning Process
-Learning Outcomes
-Individual Learner Differences
-Learner Autonomy/Independence
-Learner Language/Interlanguage
-Learner strategies

Empowering Teachers:
-Teaching Strategies
-Teacher Training
-Professional Development
-Teacher Talk
-Teacher Motivation

Exploiting Resources:
-Curriculum/Syllabus Design
-ELT Management
-Materials/Aids/Realia
-Information and Communication
-Technology (ICT)
-Common European Framework
-Corpora in Language Education

Fostering Cultural Awareness:
-English and Englishes
-English as a Lingua Franca
-Cross-cultural Awareness
-Critical Thinking Skills
-Multiple Literacies