Comparative Judgement (CJ) is an evaluation method, typically conducted online, whereby a rank order is constructed, and scores calculated, from judges' pairwise comparisons of performances. CJ has been researched in various educational contexts, though only rarely in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) writing settings, and is generally agreed to…

Research has shown that language teachers typically feel underprepared for assessment aspects of their job. One reason may relate to how teacher education programmes prepare future teachers in this area. Research insights into how and to what extent teacher educators train future language teachers in language assessment matters are scarce,…

The quality of sign language interpreting (SLI) is a gripping construct among practitioners, educators and researchers, calling for reliable and valid assessment. There has been a diverse array of methods in the extant literature to measure SLI quality, ranging from traditional error analysis to recent rubric scoring. In this study, we want to…

In this study we are concerned with the informal dimension of formative assessment (FA) in an L2 classroom. We examine those instances that are embedded into everyday learning activities and that emerge in and through classroom interaction contingently, continuously and flexibly. Drawing on the methodological underpinnings of Conversation Analysis…

Critical language assessment (CLA) has been addressed in numerous studies. However, the majority of the studies have overlooked the need for a practical framework to measure the CLA dimension of teachers' language assessment literacy (LAL). This gap prompted us to develop and validate a critical language assessment literacy (CLAL) scale to further…

Partial dictation is a measure of EFL listening proficiency that can be easily constructed, administered, and scored by EFL teachers. However, it is controversial whether this form of test measures lower-order abilities exclusively or involves both lower- and higher-order abilities. In order to answer this question, a study was designed to examine…

This paper presents a comprehensive framework for researching classroom-based assessment (CBA) processes, and is based on a detailed empirical study of two Australian school classrooms where students aged 11 to 13 were studying Indonesian as a foreign language. The framework can be considered innovative in several respects. It goes beyond the…

This study examined two types of classroom assessment events, the more closed convergent assessments (CA) versus the more open-ended divergent assessments (DA), to see if they influence learners differently in terms of motivation and learning strategies. Participants were 105 college freshmen in Taiwan with the same instructor placed under one…

Gist identification or coherent situation model construction performance is an important criterion not only in L1 and L2 reading comprehension assessment but also in every aspect of discourse processing. Whereas most previous L2 research has investigated schematic knowledge of readers about relations within a text, more recent studies have used…

With recent statistical advances in cognitive diagnostic assessment (CDA), the CDA approach has been increasingly applied to non-diagnostic tests partly to meet accountability demands for student achievement. The study aimed to evaluate critically the validity of the CDA application to an existing non-diagnostic L2 reading comprehension test and…

The assessment of oral language is now quite commonly done in pairs or groups, and there is a growing body of research which investigates the related issues (e.g. May, 2007). Writing generally tends to be thought of as an individual activity, although a small number of studies have documented the advantages of collaboration in writing in the…

English has been an official language of Hong Kong since it was first introduced to the region in the 1840s. Since then, its influence has invariably been strong and remains so even after 1997, when the sovereignty of the region was returned to China. This special background of English in Hong Kong heavily influences the policy and practices of…

In the present study I describe the 150-year history of school-based English language assessment in Japan. The history is divided into four major periods according to the purposes of English language education set by the government in the different periods: (1) 1860 to 1945, when English was first introduced and taught in schools mainly for elite…

This article introduces the ideas of 'assessment for learning' as a means whereby teachers can make their classroom assessment more directly focused on learners' development and can actively involve learners in this process. Current practice in classroom assessment in England is described and the thinking that has led to a new emphasis on…

This study examined the effects of training on peer assessment and comments provided regarding oral presentations in EFL (English as a Foreign Language) classrooms. In Study 1, both the treatment and control groups received instruction on skill aspects, but only the treatment group was given an additional 40-minute training on how to rate…