About the Author

Erwin Tschirner

(Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley) is Gerhard Helbig Professor of German as a Foreign Language and Applied Linguistics at the University of Leipzig and President of the Institute for Test Research and Test Development in Leipzig, Germany. Before joining the University of Leipzig, he taught at the University of Iowa, Iowa City (1990-1998) and at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (1988–1990). His main research areas are: second language acquisition, corpus linguistics, language testing and assessment, and language policy. He is (co-) author of over 150 books, book chapters, and journal articles. He has extensive experience in test research and development for all language modalities (speaking, listening, writing, and reading). He has been a certified ACTFL OPI tester since 1989 and tester trainer since 1993. He has been a major contributor to the internationalization efforts of the University of Leipzig, establishing and directing joint BA, MA, and Ph.D. programs with universities in the Netherlands, Mexico, Brazil, and the U.S.

Brigitte Nikolai

(First and Second Staatsexamen, Göttingen and Fulda) is Oberstudienrätin (German, English, Physical Education) at the Werner-von-Siemens Gymnasium in Bad Harzburg, Germany. She taught German at all levels of instruction at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and at the University of Iowa, Iowa City, and she was a Wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin at the University of Bayreuth, Germany. She is co-author of Assoziationen: Deutsch für die Mittelstufe and the series Lextra – Englisch Grund- und Aufbauwortschatz nach Themen. Her main interests are: the role of vocabulary in language learning, reading strategies, and the role of art in language teaching. She has been a certified ACTFL OPI tester since 1989.