Dan Isbell
@danielrisbell.bsky.social
Associate Professor of Second Language Studies, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, specializing in language assessment. Associate Editor at Language Learning journal (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/14679922). Views own. https://isbell.github.io/
Fantastic project, and very cool to see the @universityofhawaii.bsky.social contribution, including Micah Mizukami's, a PhD student in my department who is also AD of the Center for Oral History.
February 17, 2026 at 5:41 PM
Fantastic project, and very cool to see the @universityofhawaii.bsky.social contribution, including Micah Mizukami's, a PhD student in my department who is also AD of the Center for Oral History.
A Hollywood nugget for #languagetesting folks: In the last scene of Triple Frontier, Oscar Isaacs' character blends into a crowd, you can see a banner for an #IELTS test center. I think the shot was somewhere in Colombia (see top right in screenshot).
February 16, 2026 at 7:56 PM
A Hollywood nugget for #languagetesting folks: In the last scene of Triple Frontier, Oscar Isaacs' character blends into a crowd, you can see a banner for an #IELTS test center. I think the shot was somewhere in Colombia (see top right in screenshot).
Reposted by Dan Isbell
Reposted by Dan Isbell
This is all good news, actually...
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/06/o...
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/06/o...
Opinion | If You Hate Bad Bunny, I Have Bad News for You
www.nytimes.com
February 9, 2026 at 12:02 AM
This is all good news, actually...
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/06/o...
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/06/o...
Reposted by Dan Isbell
Sir Ian McKellen performing a monologue from Shakespeare’s Sir Thomas More on the Stephen Colbert show. Never have I heard this monologue performed with such a keen sense of prescience. Nor have I ever been in this exact historical moment.TY Sir Ian, for reaching us once again.
#Pinks #ProudBlue
#Pinks #ProudBlue
February 5, 2026 at 11:50 AM
Sir Ian McKellen performing a monologue from Shakespeare’s Sir Thomas More on the Stephen Colbert show. Never have I heard this monologue performed with such a keen sense of prescience. Nor have I ever been in this exact historical moment.TY Sir Ian, for reaching us once again.
#Pinks #ProudBlue
#Pinks #ProudBlue
So I just learned there's a Chinese band doing Midwest emo called..... Chinese Football.
That is such a good name lol
And the music is pretty good too!
youtu.be/X2goYUJpq9k?...
That is such a good name lol
And the music is pretty good too!
youtu.be/X2goYUJpq9k?...
Chinese Football － 電動少女 ［Official Music Video］
YouTube video by ChineseFootball Official Channel
youtu.be
February 5, 2026 at 6:12 AM
So I just learned there's a Chinese band doing Midwest emo called..... Chinese Football.
That is such a good name lol
And the music is pretty good too!
youtu.be/X2goYUJpq9k?...
That is such a good name lol
And the music is pretty good too!
youtu.be/X2goYUJpq9k?...
"People are scared...since you've got an accent, or you're Black, they can stop you for no reason" - absolutely gutting and a regression away from values America has long aspired to (though as of yet not achieved).
MAGA is a movement of America haters who despise this country and are conspiring to destroy it
February 5, 2026 at 12:56 AM
"People are scared...since you've got an accent, or you're Black, they can stop you for no reason" - absolutely gutting and a regression away from values America has long aspired to (though as of yet not achieved).
Reposted by Dan Isbell
We compared intelligibility scores from in-person listeners vs. listeners recruited on Prolific. In-person listeners had higher scores. (No surprise.) Screening out listeners with catch trials helped improve reliability. We had to recruit 360 participants to get 300 that met screening criteria.
February 4, 2026 at 7:23 PM
We compared intelligibility scores from in-person listeners vs. listeners recruited on Prolific. In-person listeners had higher scores. (No surprise.) Screening out listeners with catch trials helped improve reliability. We had to recruit 360 participants to get 300 that met screening criteria.
TOPIK scores now being accepted in Vietnamese universities to satisfy foreign language requirements:
www.koreaherald.com/article/1066...
www.koreaherald.com/article/1066...
Vietnam to accept TOPIK scores in college admissions
The Test of Proficiency in Korean will be accepted in Vietnam’s college admissions process, South Korea's Ministry of Education said Tuesday. Vietnam’s Ministry
www.koreaherald.com
February 3, 2026 at 11:20 PM
TOPIK scores now being accepted in Vietnamese universities to satisfy foreign language requirements:
www.koreaherald.com/article/1066...
www.koreaherald.com/article/1066...
It seems like ESEM for hybrid CFA-EFA situations where you target non-primary variables to have variance constrained to zero in rotation is just... dredging for marginally improved fit indices?
February 3, 2026 at 2:44 AM
It seems like ESEM for hybrid CFA-EFA situations where you target non-primary variables to have variance constrained to zero in rotation is just... dredging for marginally improved fit indices?
Reposted by Dan Isbell
2026 big update to the psycholinguistic database page! If you know of corpora, lexical databases, or other resources that I've missed, please LMK. Trying to keep this thing relatively current and could use the help www.reilly-coglab.com/data
Psycholinguistic Databases, Stimuli, Utilities — Concepts & Cognition Laboratory
www.reilly-coglab.com
February 1, 2026 at 10:01 PM
2026 big update to the psycholinguistic database page! If you know of corpora, lexical databases, or other resources that I've missed, please LMK. Trying to keep this thing relatively current and could use the help www.reilly-coglab.com/data
Lukianoff casually crashing the Oscar Meyer weinermobile into the academy...
January 29, 2026 at 5:21 PM
Lukianoff casually crashing the Oscar Meyer weinermobile into the academy...
Reposted by Dan Isbell
They just don’t get it - they’re trying to replace the part of our job we like the *most*.
If they could make an AI tool to vibe-complete travel, reimbursement, and annual reporting paperwork they would make a fucking FORTUNE
If they could make an AI tool to vibe-complete travel, reimbursement, and annual reporting paperwork they would make a fucking FORTUNE
January 27, 2026 at 11:46 PM
They just don’t get it - they’re trying to replace the part of our job we like the *most*.
If they could make an AI tool to vibe-complete travel, reimbursement, and annual reporting paperwork they would make a fucking FORTUNE
If they could make an AI tool to vibe-complete travel, reimbursement, and annual reporting paperwork they would make a fucking FORTUNE
TOPIK exam results (among other criteria) being used for student work permits #languagetesting 🐦🐦
www.koreaherald.com/article/1066...
www.koreaherald.com/article/1066...
How to work in Korea with student visa (2) - Korean language criteria and work hour limits
Even if they get a work permit, the total hours foreign students are allowed to work varies according to the level of their Korean language skills. To be consid
www.koreaherald.com
January 27, 2026 at 9:29 PM
TOPIK exam results (among other criteria) being used for student work permits #languagetesting 🐦🐦
www.koreaherald.com/article/1066...
www.koreaherald.com/article/1066...
Some rumors circulating about selling or soliciting private investment for the #TOEFL and #GRE exams: 🐦🐦
www.wsj.com/us-news/educ...
www.wsj.com/us-news/educ...
Exclusive | Testing Giant Shops GRE and Toefl Exams for Around $500 Million
The testing industry has faced pressure since the pandemic, when many universities made exams optional.
www.wsj.com
January 26, 2026 at 6:24 PM
Some rumors circulating about selling or soliciting private investment for the #TOEFL and #GRE exams: 🐦🐦
www.wsj.com/us-news/educ...
www.wsj.com/us-news/educ...
Reposted by Dan Isbell
Ice needs to be abolished
This is Liam Ramos. The five year old that ICE took from a Minneapolis school and sent BY HIMSELF WITHOUT HIS FAMILY to a detention facility in Texas. There are monsters among us and they are wearing masks, carrying guns, and work for the US government.
January 22, 2026 at 1:24 AM
Ice needs to be abolished
Reposted by Dan Isbell
ICE kills people
Medical examiner believes death of man in ICE custody was homicide, recording says
A fellow detainee says he witnessed Geraldo Lunas Campos being choked to death by guards at the ICE detention center in Texas on Jan. 3.
wapo.st
January 16, 2026 at 1:06 AM
ICE kills people
Reposted by Dan Isbell
The American Dialect Society has chosen its word of the year: slop…used as both a freestanding noun, and a productive suffix! Check out all the words we nominated at the link! And while I nominated “that’s AI” (and it won for most useful), there’s no fake news here!
The American Dialect Society (@americandialect.org) has announced the nominations for its Word of the Year—this is the one that matters, people! Vote will be tonight.
americandialect.org/nominations-...
americandialect.org/nominations-...
Nominations for Words of the Year 2025
Nominations for Words of the Year 2025 follow below. The final selection will be held at 6:45 pm CST on Friday, Jan. 9 (Carondelet, 3rd floor, New Orleans Marriott). American Dialect Society 2025…
americandialect.org
January 10, 2026 at 3:18 AM
The American Dialect Society has chosen its word of the year: slop…used as both a freestanding noun, and a productive suffix! Check out all the words we nominated at the link! And while I nominated “that’s AI” (and it won for most useful), there’s no fake news here!
Folks at Duolingo have authored a critical commentary on an article by Bruce et al (2025) concerning stakeholder perceptions of English proficiency tests in UK higher ed that has been referenced in a lot of press releases and higher ed reporting.
doi.org/10.1093/elt/...
doi.org/10.1093/elt/...
Advancing integrity in language assessment: Response to Bruce et al.
Abstract. This Readers Respond article engages with Bruce et al. (2025), which explores UK university stakeholders’ perceptions of English language profici
doi.org
January 9, 2026 at 6:34 PM
Folks at Duolingo have authored a critical commentary on an article by Bruce et al (2025) concerning stakeholder perceptions of English proficiency tests in UK higher ed that has been referenced in a lot of press releases and higher ed reporting.
doi.org/10.1093/elt/...
doi.org/10.1093/elt/...
Reposted by Dan Isbell
Best TikTok thing going is the two dudes trying food from every country without leaving NYC. If you haven’t seen them yet, it’s incredible. My favorite so far is last week’s. Legit got me emotional.
January 9, 2026 at 1:50 AM
Best TikTok thing going is the two dudes trying food from every country without leaving NYC. If you haven’t seen them yet, it’s incredible. My favorite so far is last week’s. Legit got me emotional.
Dude, same.
my second grader is *obsessed* with everything dave pikey does. our house is overflowing with captain underpants and dog man and all the spin-offs www.nytimes.com/2026/01/08/b...
The Man Behind ‘Dog Man’ Is a Pack Leader for Young Readers
www.nytimes.com
January 9, 2026 at 3:19 AM
Dude, same.
Reposted by Dan Isbell
a few thoughts youtu.be/lERS4kJIQR8
Abolish ICE
YouTube video by Takes™ by Jamelle Bouie
youtu.be
January 8, 2026 at 1:42 AM
a few thoughts youtu.be/lERS4kJIQR8
The Japanese-Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) has recently been aligned with CEFR and will begin adding CEFR levels to score reports soon. It looks like JLPT N2 caps out at B2, while high enough scores on N1 can reach C1.
I like that the levels correspond to "Linguistic, Receptive".
#langsky
I like that the levels correspond to "Linguistic, Receptive".
#langsky
国際交流基金 - 日本語教育ニュース 日本語能力試験（JLPT）の結果にCEFRレベルの参考表示を追加します！
www.jpf.go.jp
January 7, 2026 at 6:24 PM
The Japanese-Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) has recently been aligned with CEFR and will begin adding CEFR levels to score reports soon. It looks like JLPT N2 caps out at B2, while high enough scores on N1 can reach C1.
I like that the levels correspond to "Linguistic, Receptive".
#langsky
I like that the levels correspond to "Linguistic, Receptive".
#langsky