Technology is increasingly being used to foster engagement, enhance classroom dynamics, promote autonomy and improve the student learning experience in language learning environments. Many teachers have begun to employ digital apps and tools (e.g. Mentimeter and GoSoapBox) as a more interactive alternative to traditional activities. One product…

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, online assessment has become pivotal to allow evaluation of the knowledge and competences of teachers-to-be. In this context, this study explored language teacher educators' conceptions and practices of online assessment and the implications of this type of assessment for language teacher education. Forty-six…

John Read is about to retire as Professor in Applied Language Studies at the University of Auckland. He previously taught applied linguistics, Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) and English for Academic Purposes (EAP) at Victoria University of Wellington, the SEAMEO Regional Language Centre, the University of Texas El Paso,…

This article introduces the use of public exam questions in fishbowl debate to engage highly exam-oriented secondary students with communicative language teaching (CLT). The practice aims to address the issue that many teachers of English as a second language (ESL)/English as a foreign language (EFL) in Asian contexts either teach to the test or…

Test takers' beliefs or experiences have been overlooked in most validation studies in language education. Meanwhile, a mutual exclusion has been observed in the literature, with little or no dialogue between validation studies and studies concerning the uses and consequences of testing. To help fill these research gaps, a group of Senior III…

Thailand has seen several English language curriculum reforms over the last 20 years, all of which were found to have failed to lift Thai students' standard of English language proficiency across all levels of study. In 2014, the Thai Ministry of Education announced the introduction of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages…

This article describes the gathered experience in using corpora in an IELTS preparation course. The practice demonstrates an attempt to reduce negative washback effects occurring when preparation courses just concentrate on the test format neglecting the importance of development of learners' language skills and general study skills. Some…