This study intended to explore the different types of phraseological units in IELTS academic writing task 2 and probe into the IELTS candidates' perceptions of phraseological competence. To this end, a corpus entailing 100 essays (26,423 words) written for IELTS writing task 2 was scrutinized, through which phraseological units were extracted and…

Despite the widespread use of Learner-Oriented Assessment (LOA) in (English as a Foreign Language EFL classes, concerns persist regarding its suitability for contexts such as Iran. Drawing on Carless's (SHE, 31:219-233, 2006) criteria for LOA, the present study examined the effectiveness of peer and teacher feedback in an academic writing course.…

Discourse competence is an essential component of communicative competence and central to the mastery of academic writing. This article reports a three-tiered diagnostic assessment of two English as a foreign language (EFL) student writers' discourse competence in terms of textual features, composing strategies, and knowledge about academic…

The article presents an empirical study that investigates the single- and cross-modality relationships between different dimensions of receptive vocabulary knowledge and language skills, as well as the importance of academic vocabulary knowledge in academic listening and reading comprehension. An Updated Vocabulary Levels Test (UVLT), a Vietnamese…

Background: Validity is a notable concept in language testing which has concerned many researchers and scholars in the field of language testing due to its importance in decision making process. Tests' results always introduce consequences to test takers' lives which emphasizes the need to ensure their validity. Detecting and delineating the…

Admission in English-medium universities or institutions of higher education depends on the results obtained by candidates in large-scale proficiency tests including Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) internet-based test (iBT). The structure and administration procedure of the TOEFL iBT speaking test leaves no room for carrying out…

Through addressing particular ideologies regarding language, meaning, level of proficiency and target writer and reader, rating criteria define and control the "what" and "how" of the assessment process. But a point which has been neglected or intentionally concealed due to concerns of practicality and the legitimacy of the…

This paper presents findings of a study of recognition vocabulary knowledge as a predictor of written Academic English Proficiency (AEP) and overall Academic Achievement in an English medium higher education program in an English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) context. Vocabulary knowledge was measured using a Timed YES/NO (TYN) test. AEP was…

The study explores how effective teaching IELTS writing module through English debate can be for 20 students in their last year in high at a private school in Thailand. The school has acquired Ms Cynthia Luo, a debate coach of the school, to teach Grade 12B academic writing course and this has made it possible for the students to brainstorm,…