In language assessment, AI technology has been incorporated in task design, assessment delivery, automated scoring of performance-based tasks, score reporting, and provision of feedback. AI technology is also used for collecting and analyzing performance data in language assessment validation. Research has been conducted to investigate the…

How can one construct a test that provides accurate measurements across the range of performance levels while providing adequate coverage of all of the critical areas of the domain, yet that is not unmanageably long? This paper discusses the approach taken in a linear test of academic English language, and how the transition to a computer-based…

"The English Speaking Achievement Test for Japanese Junior High School Students" (ESAT-J) was introduced to contribute to levelling up public English education in Tokyo in 2022. Critics, however, have made claims in the mass media against the use of the test and stakeholder groups have called for its cancellation. This paper presents an…

The use of accommodations is often recommended to remove barriers to academic testing among English Learners (ELs). However, it is unclear whether accommodations are particularly effective at improving ELs' test scores. A growing foundation of empirical work has explored this topic. We conducted a meta-analysis that examined several possible…

This paper highlights as issues of concern the rapid changes in technology and the tendency to report on partial validation efforts where the work is not identified as forming part of a larger validation project. With close human supervision emerging technologies can have a significant and positive impact on language testing. While technology…

The online placement test for the Community English Language Program (CLP) at Teachers College, Columbia University has been administered in a computer lab since 2015. While most of the components of this placement exam system are online, including registration, exam delivery, scoring, and score reporting, the COVID-19 pandemic elevated the need…

In the wake of the COVID-19 boom in remote administration of language tests, it appears likely that remote administration will be a permanent fixture in the language testing landscape. Accordingly, language test providers, stakeholders, and researchers must grapple with the implications of remote proctoring on valid, fair, and just uses of tests.…

The sheer scale of the IELTS [International English Language Testing System] testing infrastructure and its unique position in the world of international education dictated some of the particular challenges that the IELTS Partners (British Council, IDP Education and Cambridge Assessment English) faced after the closure of test centres during the…

The Korean College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) aims to assess Korean high school students' scholastic ability required for college readiness. As a high-stakes test, the examination serves as a pivotal hurdle for university admission and exerts a strong washback effect on the educational system in Korea. The present study set out to investigate…

The use of four-skills language exams to support the achievement of curriculum goals in Japan is an under-researched yet critical topic. This study focuses on washback from the Cambridge B1 Preliminary and B2 First exams, which were used as fixed-point tests at a senior high school. A mixed-methods approach was adopted, utilizing data from…

The Canadian English Language Proficiency Index Program (CELPIP) Test was designed for immigration and citizenship in Canada. CELPIP is a computer-based English-language proficiency test which covers all four skills. This test review provides a description of the test and its construct, tasks, and delivery. Then, it appraises CELPIP for…

The construct of "learning potential" has been proposed to capture differences between learner independent performance and performance during Dynamic Assessment (DA). This paper introduces a new LPS formula implemented in a DA study involving Pakistani learners of L2 Chinese. Learners were randomly assigned to a control or experimental…

Keystroke logs provide a comprehensive record of observable writing processes. Previous studies examining the keystroke logs of young L1 English writers performing experimental writing tasks have identified writing processes features predictive of the quality of responses. Contrarily, large-scale studies on the dynamic and temporal nature of L2…

The COVID-19 pandemic pushed the Iowa State University administration to impose face coverings and other safety regulations across the university campus. To comply with these safety measures, several changes to the English Placement Test of Oral Communication (EPT OC) had to be made. This paper discusses how the EPT OC was adapted to comply with…

The present study is part of a larger mixed methods project that investigated the speaking section of the Advanced Placement (AP) Japanese Language and Culture Exam. It investigated assumptions for the evaluation inference through a content analysis of test taker responses. Results of the content analysis were integrated with those of a many-facet…