ITL - International Journal of Applied Linguistics - Volume 143, Issue 1, 2004

This paper presents the results of an Action Research project aimed at exploring (1) the possibility of implementing Cooperative Learning and (2) the possible benefits of doing so in the author’s specific teaching situation at Upper Secondary level in Italy.

Performance on language tests varies as a function of various factors. These factors, according to Bachman (1990) include: communicative language ability, test method facets, personal attributes that are not related to the ability we want to measure, and random factors which are unpredictable and temporary. Since the purpose of language tests is to measure language ability, a fundamental concern in the development and use of language tests is to identify potential sources of error and test bias in a given measure of language ability and to minimize the effects of these factors, hence to maximize the reliability and the validity of the tests. This study with 1984 male and female PhD candidates with an age range of 21-51 who took the Tarbiat Modarres University (TMU) TOEFL-like English Examination as a prerequisite for their admission for PhD programs attempted to identify one of the potential sources of test bias called impulsivity / reflectivity (Imp/Ref) cognitive style.

The purpose of the present study was two fold: On the one hand, the present research attempted to investigate the relationships and interaction between impulsivity/reflectivity, age, sex and performance on TMU English Exam. This, on the other hand, required restandardization of Persian Impulsiveness Questionnaire in Iran. To achieve this purpose of the study, having gone through the restandardization procedures, the data obtained from 1822 subjects regarding impulsivity/reflectivity were factor-analyzed through Principal Axis Factoring (PAF) and Maximum Likelihood (ML) in order to check the construct validity of the test. To achieve the main objective of the research, the subjects were classified into three groups of high, medium and low impulsives to see if this cognitive style has any relationship with Ph.D. candidates’ performance on TMU English Exam. Moreover, the role of gender and age in the subjects’ performance and the interaction effect of impulsivity, age and sex on their performance were taken into consideration. The results revealed that both impulsivity and gender are significant factors in the subjects’ performance. The overall main effect of age and the interaction effect were found to be non significant.

The aim of this study was to investigate language learning motivation within an educational approach. Within this framework, the present study investigated learners’ actual classroom motivation as opposed to GARDNER’s (1985) self-report motivation. Two AMES (Adult Migrant English Service) classes were observed for 11 weeks each, totalling 72 hours altogether. The observations were carried out through an observation scale designed to rate learners’ motivation. A questionnaire which was based on GARDNER’s (1985) ‘Attitude and Motivation Index’ was also administered to test Gardner’s socio-psychological approach to second language (SL) motivation. The study confirmed the hypotheses, which had predicted that there was no relationship between a) attitudes towards the target language commulllty and actual classroom motivation; and b) self-report motivation and observed classroom motivation.

Inter language pragmatics research has spanned a number of different areas in second language acquisition and pragmatics. In the large corpus of interlanguage pragmatics studies, basic terms such as “interlanguage pragmatics”, “speech acts” and “pragmatic transfer” have been referred to more often than not. But rarely have we stopped to re-evaluate the applicability and appropriateness of these terms. This paper aims to properly interpret or redefine their meanings and to propose more appropriate terms where possible.

EI presente trabajo estudia el desarrollo de la competencia oral en la adquisición del inglés como tercera lengua. Específicamente, analiza la influencia que la edad puede ejercer en el desarrollo de la competencia oral por parte de niños bilingües de español-euskera. Para llevar a cabo esta investigación, hemos contado con un corpus de 81 alumnos de una ikastola privada de Gipuzkoa, divididos en tres grupos según la edad, aunque con un mismo período de instrucción en inglés. Los resultados de nuestro estudio indican que son los alumnos más jóvenes los que presentan ventajas en el desarrollo de su competencia oral. Este hecho puede deberse a la metodología seguida en el aula, que es fundamentalmente comunicativa con los grupos de menor edad.