Research and Proficiency Tools

Using this site

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Author, date of doc, title of doc, National Heritage Language Resource Center, available at [URL of the doc]. 

Contributing to this site

If you would like to contribute materials that you have developed and think are relevant to this site, please contact us using the Contact link on our navigation menu. Please submit materials that have been used in studies published in peer-reviewed publications or in approved dissertations.

Additionally, if you adapt any of the documents you find here for your own purposes, please let us know so we can add your material to this website.

Language Background Questionnaires

Questionnaire in English for bilingual speakers of Spanish/English

Questionnaire in English for heritage speakers of Spanish

Description: Elicits information about heritage language students' backgrounds in Spanish use.

Source: Prof. Maria Carreira, CSULB

Literature Review for Proficiency Assessments

A gradient Bilingual Dominance Scale

Description: A bilingual gradient scale consisting of lexical and sentence translation tasks

Languages: Spanish/English

Source: Dunn, A. L. & Fox Tree, J.E. (2009). A quick, gradient Bilingual Dominance Scale. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 12(3), 273-289.

The development and validation of a Korean C-Test using Rasch Analysis

Description: C-Test

Language: Korean

Source: Sunyoung, L. (2009). The development and validation of a Korean C-Test using Rasch Analysis. Language Testing, 26(2), 245-274.

Linguistic correlates of proficiency in Korean as a second language

Description: Linguistic Correlates of Proficiency (LCP)

Language: Korean

Source: Lee, S-Y., Moon, J., & Long, M. H. (2009). Linguistic correlates of proficiency in Korean as a second language. Language Research, 45 (2).

Determining language dominance in English-Mandarin bilinguals

Description: Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test

Languages: Mandarin/English

Source: Lim, V.P.C. et al. (2008). Determining language dominance in English–Mandarin bilinguals: Development of a self-report classification tool for clinical use. Applied Psycholinguistics, 29, 389-412.

The Language Experience and Proficiency Questionnaire (LEAP - Q)

Description: The Language Experience and Proficiency Questionnaire (LEAP-Q)

Languages: Spanish/English

Source: Marian, V. et al. (2007). The Language Experience and Proficiency Questionnaire (LEAP-Q): Assessing language profiles in bilinguals and multilinguals. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 50, 940-967.

A standardized set of 260 pictures for assessing differences and similarities in the processing of pictures and words

Description: Picture-naming task

Languages: Any language

Source: Snodgrass, J. G. & Vanderwart, M. (1980). A standardized set of 260 pictures: Norms for name agreement, image agreement, familiarity, and visual complexity. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Learning and Memory, 6(2), 174-215.

The case of four large scale tests of ESOL ability Assessing language dominance in bilingual acquisition

Description: Mean Length of Utterance (MLU)

Languages: Cantonese/English

Source: Yip, V. & Matthews, S. (2006). Assessing language dominance in bilingual acquisition: A case for mean length utterance differentials. Language Assessment Quarterly, 3(2), 97-116.

Assessing language dominance in bilingual acquisition

Description: Mean Length of Utterance (MLU)

Languages: Cantonese/English

Source: Yip, V. & Matthews, S. (2006). Assessing language dominance in bilingual acquisition: A case for mean length utterance differentials. Language Assessment Quarterly, 3(2), 97-116.

Sample Proficiency Exams

Problem sets targeting vocabulary, semantics, listening comprehension, etc.

Description: Vocabulary, semantics, listening comprehension and more for Russian language instruction.

Language: Russian

Source: Dr. Tania Ivanova-Sullivan, University of New Mexico

DELE Proficiency Test

Description: Multiple choice and cloze test with answers.

Language: Spanish

Source: Dr. Silvina Montrul, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Role-play situations to elicit requests:

Description: The role plays elicit requestive acts on the part of the speaker being tested. Based on the CCSARP by Blum-Kulka, House, & Kasper (1989. Cross-cultural pragmatics: Requests and apologies). In the category of speech act pragmatics.

Language: Russian

Source: Irina Dubinina, Brandeis University. Please contact Irina for materials by email at: idubinin@brandeis.edu

Websites Providing Assessment Tools

Bilingual Language Profile (BLP)

Description: The BLP is an open assessment tool for assessing language dominance through self-reports, producing a continuous dominance score and a general bilingual profile that takes into account a variety of linguistic variables.

Hawaii Assessment of Language Access (HALA)

Description: The HALA Project uses psycholinguistic techniques to assess language strength/activation in speakers.

Language Testing International (LTI)

Description: LTI arranges ACTFL language proficiency assessments in over 60 languages.

LinguaFolio Online

Description: A portfolio assessment tool that helps students reflect on their learning processes by responding to CanDo statements.


Standards-based Measurement of Proficiency (STAMP)

Description: A web-based assessment tools site that assesses competency in reading, writing, listening and speaking to determine proficiency levels that are related to the ACTFL Performance Guidelines.

Experimental Research Tools

Literature Review for Research Techniques

Psycholinguistic tool for the assessment of language loss: The HALA project

Description: An easy-to-use psycholinguistic measure of language strength, a body-part naming task, is described.

Source: O’Grady, W. et al. (2009). A psycholinguistic tool for the assessment of language loss: The HALA project. Language Documentation and Conservation, 3(1), 100-112.

Measuring implicit and explicit linguistic knowledge. What can heritage language learners contribute?

Description: Validates Ellis' (2005) battery of tests that measure both implicit and explicit knowledge of the L2, and extends the use of these tests to HL students (of Spanish).

Source: Bowles, M. (2011). Measuring implicit and explicit linguistic knowledge. What can heritage language learners contribute? Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 33(2), 247-271.

Experimental Methods in Language Acquisition Research

Description: Provides information on the most frequently used methods in language acquisition research. Practical discussions of experimental methods, the rationale behind these, and advantages and disadvantages of each.

Source: Blom, E. & Unsworth, S. (2010). Experimental Methods in Language Acquisition Research. Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Co.

Second Language Research: Methodology and Design

Description: Describes research methodology and design for those involved in second language studies.

Source: Mackey, A. & Gass, S. (2005). Second language research: Methodology and design. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Data elicitation for second and foreign language research

Description: Guides second language researchers in deciding which data-gathering techniques may be most appropriate and fruitful in given research domains.

Source: Gass, S. & Mackey, A. (2007). Data Elicitation for second and foreign language research. New York: Routledge.

Using priming methods in second language research

Description: Introduces the use of auditory, semantic, and syntactic priming methods for second language processing and acquisition research.

Source: McDonough, K. & Trofimovich, P. (2009). Using priming methods in second language research. New York: Routledge.

An introduction to event-related potential technique

Description: Guide to the theory and practice (design, interpretation, and methods of conducting) ERP experiments.

Source: Luck, S. J. (2005). An introduction to event-related potential technique. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Questionnaires in second language research: Construction, administration, and processing

Description: Guide to the production and use of questionnaires as reliable and valid research instruments in second language research.

Source: Dörnyei, Z. (2003). Questionnaires in second language research: Construction, administration, and processing. New York: Routledge.

Stimulated recall methodology in second language research

Description: Provides a "how-to" guide for researchers wanting to use stimulated recall, including transcribing, coding, and analyzing data.

Source: Gass, S. & Mackey, Al. (2000). Stimulated recall methodology in second language research. New York: Routledge.

The think-aloud controversy in second language research

Description: Discusses the validity and uses of think-alouds, verbal reports completed by research participants while they perform a task.

Source: Bowles, M. (2010). The think-aloud controversy in second language research. New York: Routledge.

FMRI Center, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences

Description: Background and uses of functional magnetic resonance imaging.

Source: To visit the FMRI Center's website, click here.  

Magnitude estimation

Description: Magnitude estimation is a technique used in psychophysics to measure judgments of sensory stimuli.

Source: To visit the Magnitude Estimation website, click here.

Research methods in second language psycholinguistics

Description: A resource that provides information on the current methods in psycholinguistics with a special focus on second language research.

Source: Jegerski, J. & VanPatten, B. (2014). Research methods in second language psycholinguistics. New York: Routledge.

Software for Designing/Creating Experiments, Collecting/Analyzing Data

SuperLab 4.0

Description: Software to assist with designing experiments as well as collecting and analyzing data.

E-prime

Description: Software to assist with designing experiments as well as collecting and analyzing data.

NVivo

Description: Software to help organize and analyze qualitative types of data.

Experigen

Description: Software for auditory experiments created by Michael Becker and Jonathan Levine at Harvard University.

IBEX

Description: A platform for creating and hosting experiments created by Alex Drummond.

LINGER

Description: A software package for performing reading, listening, and other sentence processing experiments. Able to handle non-alphabetic languages.

Mechanical Turk

Description: Amazon-hosted website for experimental data collection. See Gibson, E., S. Piantadosi, and K Fedorenko. 2011. Using Mechanical Turk to Obtain and Analyze English Acceptability Judgments. Language and Linguistics Compass 5 (8).

DMDX

Description: A free Windows display system that is used to measure reaction times to visual and auditory stimuli.

PsyScope X

Description: A free Apple MacIntosh program that enables users to create psychological experiments.

ExperigenRT

Description: A free program designed to measure reaction times in web-based auditory experiments.

SR Research: Complete Eye Tracking Solutions

Description: A company that sells eye-tracking equipment and software.

Electro-Cap International

Description: A website from which electro-caps to conduct ERP experiments can be ordered.

GOLD: Corpus Portal

Description: A web-based program for creating linguistic corpora.

ActiView

Description: Description: An acquisition program for displaying EEG/ECG/EMG data.

ERPLab

Description: Description: A free and downloadable toolbox to analyze ERP data.

Websites for Data Collection Instruments and Linguistic Corpora

IRIS

Description: A digital repository of data collection instruments for research into second language learning and teaching.

CHILDES

Description: A database that contains interactional conversations with children in different languages.

AILA ReN

Description: A research network for investigating the role of instructor and individual instructor differences that may affect SLA.

New England Corpus of Heritage and Second Language Speakers

Description: An online corpora of oral and written production from heritage and L2 Spanish and Portuguese speakers.

Heritage Language Variation and Change in Toronto

Description: A corpus of conversational speech from heritage languages speakers in the Toronto area.

Experimental Tasks

Pictures

Description: Images for collecting data on relative clauses.

Source: Polinsky, M. (2011). Reanalysis in adult heritage language. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 33(2), 305-328.

Visual Task

Description: Visual tasks with kitchen vocabulary.

Source: Bowles, M. (2011). Exploring the role of modality: L2-heritage learner interactions in the Spanish language classroom. Heritage Language Journal,8(1), 30-65.