The current study explored and compared the employment of interactive and interactional metadiscourse markers (MDMs) by the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) speaking test takers at beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels. To conduct this discourse analysis research, a mixed-methods approach with concurrent transformative…

Language testing research has suggested that placement accuracy can be an important factor in the consequences of placement decision-making. However, previous studies primarily have used a one-shot teacher judgment of placement accuracy, suffering from a lack of students' perspectives of their time-varying experiences. The present study aimed to…

Automatic Speech Scoring (ASS) has increasingly become a useful tool in oral proficiency testing for Second Language (L2) learners. However, limited studies investigate the alignment of ASS indices with the Complexity, Accuracy, and Fluency (CAF)--the three dimensions in evaluating L2 speakers' oral proficiency, and the subsequent impact indices…

The performance decision tree (PDT; Fulcher et al., 2011) is a rubric style that is applicable to performance assessment, with origins in Upshur and Turner's (1995) empirically derived binary-choice, boundary-definition (EBB) scale. It is easier for raters to assess performance by evaluating multiple binary-choice descriptors. Additionally,…

In recent decades, technology has changed the methods of teaching and assessment in educational settings all over the world. One notable innovation that has gained prominence in English language teaching (ELT) is the utilization of e-portfolios to evaluate and enhance students' writing and, potentially, speaking skills. While students have shown…

Few empirical research has attempted to determine the impact of Intelligent Computer-Assisted Language Assessment (ICALA) in philosophy-based language instruction (PBLI) on critical thinking, self-evaluation, and academic resilience, despite the significant role that higher-order thinking skills play in influencing English as a Foreign Language…