As applied linguists and language testers, we are in the business of "doing language". For many of us, language learning is a lifelong passion, and we invest similar enthusiasm in our language assessment research and testing practices. Language is also the vehicle through which we communicate that enthusiasm to others, sharing our…

This study examined the semantic features of the simulated mini-lectures in the listening sections of the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) and the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) based on automatized semantic analysis to explore the content validity of the two tests. Two study corpora were utilized, the IELTS…

This paper addresses the intersection of testing and policy, situating test-driven impact and validation within the context of policy-led educational reform in Korea. I will briefly review the existing validation models. Then, arguing for an expansion of the conventional conceptualization of consequential validity research, I use Fairclough's…

The overarching aim of the study is to explore the extent to which test takers' performances on monologic speaking tasks provide information about their interactional competence. This is an important concern from a test use perspective, as stakeholders tend to consider test scores as providing comprehensive information about all aspects of L2…

This study investigated a range of fluency, grammar, vocabulary, and content features of young language students' speaking performances, using a discourse-analytic approach. In total, 179 test takers' responses to the speaking section of the "TOEFL Junior"® Comprehensive test were selected for analysis. Mixed-design ANOVAs were used to…

Integrated speaking tasks requiring test takers to read and/or listen to stimulus texts and to incorporate their content into oral performances are now used in large-scale, high-stakes tests, including the TOEFL iBT. These tasks require test takers to identify, select, and combine relevant source text information to recognize key relationships…

The ability to interact with others has gained recognition as part of the L2 speaking construct in the assessment literature and in high- and low-stakes speaking assessments. This paper first presents a review of the literature on interactional competence (IC) in L2 learning and assessment. It then discusses a particular feature--"producing…

Investigations of the validity of a number of high-stakes language assessments are conducted using an argument-based approach, which requires evidence for inferences that are critical to score interpretation (Chapelle, Enright, & Jamieson, 2008b; Kane, 2013). The current study investigates the extrapolation inference for a high-stakes test of…

The aim of this paper is to investigate from a discourse analytic perspective task authenticity in the speaking component of the Occupational English Test (OET), an English language screening test for clinicians designed to reflect the language demands of health professional-patient communication. The study compares the OET speaking sub-test…

The "indigenous assessment practices" (Jacoby & McNamara, 1999) in selected health professions were investigated to inform a review of the scope of assessment in the speaking sub-test of a specific-purpose English language test for health professionals, the Occupational English Test (OET). The assessment criteria in current use on…

This paper explores the views of nursing and medical domain experts in considering the standards for a specific-purpose English language screening test, the Occupational English Test (OET), for professional registration for immigrant health professionals. Since individuals who score performances in the test setting are often language experts…

This paper reports an investigation into how the prompt may influence the discourse of group oral tests. The group oral test, in which three or four participants are rated on their ability to discuss a prompt, is a format for assessing the spoken ability of language learners. In this study, 141 Japanese university students were videoed in 41 group…

Despite the growing popularity of paired format speaking assessments, the effects of pre-task planning time on performance in these formats are not yet well understood. For example, some studies have revealed the benefits of planning but others have not. Using a multifaceted approach including analysis of the process of speaking performance, the…

Performance on integrated tasks requires candidates to engage skills and strategies beyond language proficiency alone, in ways that can be difficult to define and measure for testing purposes. While it has been widely recognized that stimulus materials impact test performance, our understanding of the way in which test takers make use of these…

This study explores the nature of co-constructed interaction in group oral tests by examining whether a test-taker's own and his or her group members' extraversion levels and oral proficiency levels have different influences on conversational styles between two group sizes: groups of three and groups of four. Data were collected from 269 Japanese…