In May 2003, Second Language Testing Foundation (SLTF) was incorporated in Maryland as a private operating foundation.  SLTF's application for nonprofit charitable status was approved by the IRS.  SLTF is funded through public donations, grants, contracts, and through the sale of its products.  The focus of SLTF is to increase understanding of issues in second language testing among educators and the public. Specifically, the foundation's mission goals are to promote the appropriate use of language skills tests, including language aptitude tests, to develop and/or conduct research on language skills tests, and to conduct research on language learners and formal assessments.

Research and test development

The Foundation conducts research on existing second language tests, and research that informs the development of new second language tests. A specific interest of the Foundation, at least initially, is research on the measurement of language learning aptitude.  

Tests of language aptitude

A number of tests of language aptitude will emerge from the research function of the Foundation. The Modern Language Aptitude Test (MLAT), which is currently made available by the Foundation, is used by government agencies, missionary groups and private corporations to identify and then train employees to work in foreign countries. The MLAT is also used to determine if a person has a language learning disability. It is used today by universities and by psychologists specializing in learning disabilities who are confronted by students who repeatedly fail foreign languages courses while performing well in other courses.

SLTF also makes available to schools a version of the above test for elementary school students. This instrument is called the Modern Language Aptitude Test-Elementary (MLAT-E).

In 2004, SLTF made available the Pimsleur Language Aptitude Battery (PLAB).  This language aptitude test is designed for junior high and high school students and is used to help teachers determine a student's readiness to begin the study of foreign language and identify the students with a special talent or "ear for language."  The addition of the PLAB completes SLTF's set of language aptitude tests by filling in the age gap between the MLAT-E test takers and MLAT test takers.

The Second Language Testing Foundation has also recently made available a Spanish adaptation of the MLAT-E, the Modern Language Aptitude Test Elementary: Spanish Version (MLAT-ES).  The MLAT-ES was developed in conjunction with several schools in Latin America and Spain, and is intended for native Spanish-speaking children in grades 3-6 in the USA and in other countries.  The MLAT-ES sprang from the research of Drs. Charles Stansfield and Daniel Reed of Michigan State University. They developed a framework for the creation of adapted versions of the MLAT for examinees whose first language is not English. 

Since 2004, SLTF has been working with Korean linguists to develop a version of the MLAT-E in Korean.  SLTF has also assisted researchers in developing adaptations of the MLAT-E in other languages for research purposes.

Research

SLTI staff and associates give presentations and present research findings at educational conferences (American Educational Research Association, National Council on Measurement in Education, and the International Language Testing Research Colloquium) to disseminate our results and enrich the knowledge base of researchers and educators on matters pertaining to language competencies, cognitive skills and testing.

ECOLT

Second Language Testing Foundation is a founder and sponsor of the East Coast Conference on Language Testing (ECOLT).  SLTF's president, Dr. Charles W. Stansfield, was the keynote speaker at the first ECOLT conference in March 2002.  He continues to serve on the ECOLT executive committee, which is responsible for planning the ECOLT conference each year, obtaining financial support, etc.  SLTF prepares the ECOLT program book and pays for its printing.   Each year, SLTI and SLTF personnel assist in the management of the ECOLT conference.   About 100 people, many of whom are language teachers or language specialists working in the government language community, usually attend the ECOLT conference.  Others are language educators in the Washington DC area.  Faculty and graduate students from universities in the Washington DC area also attend and participate.  Other ECOLT sponsors include the Center for Applied Linguistics and Georgetown University.  To locate information on the next or most recent ECOLT conference, click here.

SLTF Summer Internships


In 2005 the Second Language Testing Foundation (SLTF) set up a summer internship program. If you are interested in finding out more about SLTF internships or would like to apply, please contact us. SLTF interns are expected to be physically present at SLTF and to work on SLTF projects. We view the internship as a chance to gain real-world experience in language testing matters.

2010

In the summer of 2010, several interns, with a wide variety of expertise, participated in internships at SLTF.

Caylie Gnyra completed a BA in English through The King’s University College in Alberta, Canada in 2005, and a BA in Native Studies through the University of Alberta in 2010. Between degrees, she lived in several Aboriginal communities in Alberta, Canada, and Guyana, South America, working with museum education programs dealing with Aboriginal history and culture, and with youth leadership and recreation programs. During her Native Studies degree, Caylie learned to read and write Plains Cree using Standard Roman Orthography and syllabics. She has worked on writing and digitally illustrating books for young Cree language learners, based on Alberta Education’s curriculum guidelines. Caylie has also tutored Cree and Human Ecology to university students. In 2009, Caylie interned in the education department at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC.

At SLTI, Caylie is working on the development of an annotated bibliography and literature review on oral assessments for speakers of Aboriginal languages, as part of a project for the Bureau of Indian Education. She also assists with editing and data entry for a number of other projects.



Kristina Scholz is pursuing a Master’s degree in Applied Linguistics/Teaching English as a Second Language at Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff. Her previous degrees are in International Relations and Public and International Affairs. Additionally, she has served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Kyrgyzstan, Central Asia. During her internship at STLF, Kristina worked on various projects including: reviewing items for the high-stakes Pearson Test of Academic English and state-wide K-12 assessments for Massachusetts and New Mexico; organizing and conducting pilot tests for interpretation and translation tests in Pashto, Dari, and Farsi; and supporting staff in proposal and report writing.



Eugenia Sokolskaya is a Linguistics and Language major at Swarthmore College. Native to Russia, she is bilingual in Russian and English, and has studied French, Spanish, and Mandarin. During her internship at SLTF, she participated in the review of items for an English proficiency test for ELLs, and has assisted with data entry, editing and formatting, and logistics in the development of Spanish language-arts tests and tests of translation and interpretation ability in Dari, Farsi, and Pashto.



Sandra Anderson is a member of the Navajo Nation originally from Ft. Defiance, AZ. She is pursuing her Master’s degree in Community & Regional Planning at the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM. She previously completed her BA in Anthropology and Native American Studies at UNM. Her desired goal is to work for her tribe in tribal regional planning or tribal government. At SLTI, Ms. Anderson is involved in the development of a model for assessing oral language proficiency in Native American languages as part of a project for the Bureau of Indian Education.



Mallory Schleif is a student at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts, concentrating in Linguistics and Indigenous Studies. During the spring of 2010, Mallory served as an intern at Indian Township School in Princeton, Maine, where she assisted with Passamaquoddy language curriculum planning, developed teaching materials, and illustrated a children's book in Passamaquoddy. While in the community, she also worked with adult speakers of the language to record and transcribe audio entries for a publicly accessible online dictionary database and language portal. She continues to work long-distance with the community as an assistant in the adaptation of an oral-visual language learning pedagogy for adult reacquisition learners.

At SLTI, Mallory helped to draft and edit a literature review on oral language assessment for speakers of indigenous languages as a part of a project for the Bureau of Indian Education. She is also involved in the development of a model for assessing oral language proficiency in Native American language, including drafting, editing, and illustrating preliminary assessment materials.



Thomas Morie is a linguistics major at Macalester College in Saint Paul, Minnesota. He is proficient in French and Latin, and has studied Ancient Greek; he tutored students of French and Latin for two years in high school. During the summer of 2009, he had an internship at the Center for Applied Linguistics in Washington, D.C., with the ONPAR project, where he performed discourse analysis and test item review on math and science content tests for ELLs, and cognitive lab transcription. During his internship at SLTF, Thomas has assisted in the development of Pashto, Dari, and Farsi interpretation and translation assessments for the U.S. military. He has also reviewed test items for an English proficiency examination for ELLs in Massachusetts.

2008
In the summer of 2008, SLTF participated in the initial year of the Maryland Nonprofit Leadership Program, run by the Shriver Center at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. The Maryland Nonprofit Leadership Program offers paid summer internship opportunities in the nonprofit sector to college juniors, seniors, and graduate students attending Maryland institutions. Participating interns work for ten weeks full-time from June 2nd to August 8th while participating in bi-weekly seminars in nonprofit management. SLTF welcomed two interns from the program, Sunyoung Park and Yujung Son.

Sunyoung Park is entering her third year at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County where she is working toward a Master's degree in TESOL. During her internship at SLTF, she has worked on processing language aptitude test orders, drafted test items and general specifications for a Korean version of the MLAT-E, reviewed test items and manual for a UK version of the MLAT-E, participated in marketing of currently developed tests and tests being developed, and initiated contact with Korean publishers to determine publishing and marketing possibilities for the Korean version of the MLAT-E.

Yujung Son is entering her third year at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County where she is pursuing a Master's degree in Instructional Systems Development with a concentration on ESOL/Bilingual Education. During her internship at SLTF, she participated in various projects including developing the Korean version of the MLAT-E, reviewing test items translated into Korean, and marketing of currently developed tests. She worked on creating test items, scripts, and a manual for the Korean MLAT-E and learned about the different linguistic structures of Korean and English that are relevant to language aptitude.

Ming Li, an international student from China, also interned with SLTF during the summer of 2008. She is gaining experience in second language testing by working with SLTF staff on various projects including marking item responses for a high-stakes English language test developed by Pearson Language Assessments, locating resources for test item writing, and doing test translation. Ming Li is pursuing her M.A. in Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Testing at George Mason University. Before her studies in the United States, she taught English in China University of Petroleum.


2007
In 2007, Cecilia Zhao was entering her third year at New York University, where she was working toward a PhD degree in TESOL, with an emphasis on second language testing. During her 2 months internship at SLTF, she worked mainly on SLTF's language aptitude tests. She updated the technical manual for the MLAT, drafted test specifications for the MLAT-E and wrote items for a new form. She also reviewed draft items for new forms of the Defense Language Aptitude Battery and administered pilot test forms of the DLAB to examinees, interviewing them afterwards and writing up the results. She reviewed NAEP math items for language accessibility, and reviewed a proposal for an Enhanced Assessment grant. She prepared data from several medical interpreter tests for analysis and conducted classical test analyses of three tests.

Ching-Ni Hsieh was entering her second year at Michigan State University, where she was a doctoral student in Second Language Studies with an emphasis on second language testing. During her internship at SLTF, Ching-Ni worked on test specifications for the MLAT-E and test items for an additional form of the MLAT-E. Ching-Ni also administered pilot test versions of the DLAB, drafted general specifications for a Chinese version of the MLAT-E, reviewed literature on multiple-choice item writing, updated SLTF language aptitude tests manuals, and helped draft an outline for an ESL reading comprehension test. She also updated the SLTI website and developed an online MLAT User Survey using SurveyMonkey.

2006
In the summer of 2006, SLTF welcomed applicants Meredith Mislevy and Graham Seibert to the staff.

Meredith Mislevy was entering her third year at the University of Maryland, College Park where she was working toward a Bachelor of the Arts degree in Linguistics and Cognition. During her internship at SLTF, she has worked on processing language aptitude test orders, interacted with MLAT customers, authored entries on "Language Aptitude", "John B. Carroll", the "MLAT" and the "PLAB" for Wikipedia, drafted test items for a higher-level version of the MLAT, reviewed NAEP items for accessible language and worked on updating the Second Language Testing website.

Graham Seibert read about Charles Stansfield in the Washington Post two years ago and contacted him to ask for some second-language test materials to reference for a paper he was writing for a course in assessment design in the University of Maryland's Department of Educational Measurement and statistics. Graham's interest in education goes back to his experience as a parent, his service on school boards, and his time as a private school teacher of foreign languages before entering his Master's program. His first career as a computer consultant involved extensive travel abroad, during which time he learned Spanish, French, German and Portuguese and became interested in the process of language acquisition itself. In 2006, Charles Stansfield offered Graham an internship at SLTF. While at SLTF, Graham applied his knowledge of statistics to real-world problems, and used his experience in foreign language and education to represent SLTF to its test users. He used his background in technology to become involved in the operationalization of the computer-based version of the MLAT.

2005
SLTF's first summer intern was Mr. Sean McGrew, a doctoral candidate in educational linguistics at the University of Pennsylvania. Sean spent June, July, and August 2005 at SLTF. Using his background in statistical research methodology, he ran statistics using SPSS and SAS, edited final reports for test development projects, and contributed to monthly and final reports.