Determining the language proficiency level required to understand a given text is a key requirement in vetting documents for use in second language learning. In this work, we describe our approach for developing an automatic text analytic to estimate the text difficulty level using the Interagency Language Roundtable (ILR) proficiency scale. The approach we take is to use machine translation to...

OBJECTIVE To measure the impact of an objective evaluation of provider Spanish-language skills on self-reported language proficiency and comfort using Spanish in a range of clinical scenarios. METHODS We enrolled pediatric residents with any self-reported Spanish language ability from 3 residency programs. Participants completed a baseline survey, objective language testing, and a posttest su...

Foreign language professionals invest considerable time and effort in acquiring foreign language skills. Of key interest is how these skills change over time, and which sustainment, or language training activities, are efficacious in maintaining or improving proficiency. This paper discusses the results of mining more than 800 test/re-test records of foreign language professionals. Analyses inv...

research on reading comprehension supports the contribution of the topic sentence to better understanding of the paragraph by efl readers. however, the level of language proficiency, which has recently been recognized as an interacting factor with many language processing tasks, has not been taken into account in previous research. therefore, the prupose of this study is to investigate the rela...

The focus of the present study was to investigate the possible effects of sociocultural-based teaching techniques on EFL learners reading comprehension. The basic purpose was to clarify how learners reading comprehension and strategy use could be affected by the types of teaching techniques and how high and low proficiency learners profited from the intervention. Iranian EFL students were used ...

Second language learners perform worse than native speakers under adverse listening conditions, such as speech in noise (SPIN). No data are available on heritage language speakers' (early naturalistic interrupted learners') ability to perceive SPIN. The current study fills this gap and investigates the perception of Russian speech in multi-talker babble noise by the matched groups of high- and ...

Collaboration within multinational teams necessitates the adoption of a common language, typically English, which often leads to significant differences in language proficiency across members. We develop and test a multilevel model of the effects of language proficiency within multinational teams. An experimental study of 51 teams (102 American and 102 Chinese participants) revealed that, at th...

Early deafness is thought to affect low-level sensorimotor processing such as selective attention, whereas bilingualism is thought to be strongly associated with higher order cognitive processing such as attention switching under cognitive load. This study explores the effects of bimodal-bilingualism (in American Sign Language and written English) on attention switching, in order to contrast th...

When nurses who are educated internationally immigrate to the United States, they are expected to have English language proficiency in order to function as a competent nurse. The purpose of this research was to provide sufficient information to the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) to make a defensible recommended passing standard for English proficiency. This standard was bas...

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...