There now exists an established body of work outlining the challenges international students can face as part of the acculturation process, including a range of academic and non-academic pressures to overcome. For many students, writing essays in academic English for the first time is problematic. This article considers pedagogical approaches for…

Test preparation has been shown to affect educational test scores to varying degrees. In language testing, however, there are no cross-regional studies that consider the effects of gender and age on test preparation practices. This study represents an attempt to remedy this situation. Questionnaire respondents to a global survey were tasked with…

This study investigates washback effects of IELTS test on university teachers' adoption of teaching materials in the classroom in China and see how a high-stake language exam affects their teaching practices and how they and their students perceive the effectiveness of the pedagogic adjustments. To this end, individual interview to five teacher…

Understanding the IELTS washback on learning in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) in higher education contexts remains limited. To fill in this research gap, this study investigated washback effects of the International English Language Testing System (hereafter called IELTS) as an English language proficiency exit test for final-year English…

High-stakes language tests are used around the world as a gatekeeping tool under the internationalization of higher education. However, the predictable aspect of the high-stakes language tests is seldom discussed, especially from students' perspectives. This study aims to address this gap by aiming to better understand how certain factors and…

International English Language Testing System (IELTS) scores have been widely used as the language entry requirements for international students in many English-medium universities. However, research on the predictive validity of IELTS on subsequent academic performance has been inconclusive. Additionally, despite the proliferation of IELTS…

This study addresses critical gaps in English proficiency assessments, particularly for English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students, by focusing on the foundational aspect of needs analysis in designing a platform to assist EFL students in preparation for real English proficiency tests. The existing tests, such as TOEFL and IELTS, often fail to…

The writing module of the IELTS has proven to be a challenging section for test takers. Part of this difficulty may stem from the divergence between what test takers expect to learn in such courses and what is delivered by instructors. To address this issue, a 24-item questionnaire (Student Questionnaire A) relating to IELTS writing preparation…

This study presents the results of a mixed-methods approach in finding the effects of the WebQuest-based flipped classroom on the EFL learners' inferential reading comprehension skills. A group of EFL learners attending an IELTS course participated in the study. "T"-test and one-way repeated measures ANOVA were used to analyze the…

Effective test preparation for high-stakes English language tests is crucial for candidates whose futures depend on attaining a particular score. An increasing number of studies have investigated the role of test preparation; however, these studies have been exclusively conducted in individual contexts and countries around the world. This study…

Studies and research reveal that most English language learners (ELLs) encounter challenges when they write an academic paper in English due to lack of grammar. As most international universities require passing international tests as TOEFL, IELTS, GMAT, GRE, and other tests with high level, most international students fail to achieve this…

The revived interest in the notion of 'evaluative judgement' in higher education is motivated by commitment of researchers and practitioners to effectively implement learning-oriented assessment and cultivate this high-order cognitive ability to develop students' capacity for self-regulated learning. Recent studies have examined the affordances…

The present study explored the impact of WebQuest-based classroom on EFL learners' critical thinking and academic writing skills by collecting and analysing the data through a sequential explanatory mixed-methods approach. Two intact classes, each with ten EFL learners, attending an IELTS course at a language institute in Sanandaj, Iran, took part…

This study used eye-tracking, in combination with stimulated recalls and reflective journals, to investigate L2 learners' engagement with automated feedback and the impact of feedback explicitness and accuracy on their engagement. Twenty-four Chinese EFL learners revised their writing through Write & Improve with Cambridge, a new automated…

This project firstly explored Iranian English as a foreign language (EFL) students' perceptions about written corrective feedback (WCF)-related practices and preferences. Secondly, the student participants' first language (L1; e.g., Farsi) learner identities were operationalized, especially focusing on the skill of writing, WCF, and…