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 this study, the potential impacts of dynamic assessment (DA) and non-dynamic assessment (non-DA) on Ethiopian EFL students' productive skills were investigated. Additionally, this study examined Ethiopian EFL students' attitudes regarding using DA in their speaking and writing classes. Fifty-three Ethiopian intermediate EFL learners were…

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…

This study aimed at investigating the English as a foreign language (EFL) learners' perceptions of L1-based and L2-based elicitations in the English classroom employing an explanatory sequential mixed-method design. Ninety-seven Iranian intermediate EFL learners of English have been selected from Islamic Azad University (Science and Research…

Background: A strong interest in researching World Englishes (WE) in relation to language assessment has become an emerging theme in language assessment studies over the past two decades. While research on WE has highlighted the status, function, and legitimacy of varieties of English language, it remains unclear how raters respond to the results…

Background: Research on the test-taker perception of assessments has been conducted under the assumption that negative test-taker perception may influence test performance by decreasing test-taking motivation. This assumption, however, has not been verified in the field of language testing. Building on expectancy-value theory, this study explored…

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…

This study was designed to determine how well existing analytic rating scales functioned in the assessment of low- to mid-proficiency Japanese university students' interactive English speaking ability when engaged in small group discussions. Many-facet Rasch measurement (MFRM) was employed to evaluate the quality of adapted rating scales for…

Background: Although teachers of English are required to assess students' speaking proficiency in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), their ability to rate is seldom evaluated. The application of descriptors in the assessment of English speaking on CEFR in the context of English as a foreign language has not often been…

Background: The present study examined the validity of a university-based speaking assessment (Test of Oral Proficiency in English, TOPE for short) in mainland China. The speaking assessment was developed to meet the standards (Standard for Oral Proficiency in English, SOPE for short) set for teaching and learning of the oral English by the…

Students of private universities in Bangladesh are often found to be less competent in spoken English. Since the universities have adopted EMI (English medium instruction) policy, the prevailing linguistic condition on the campus is an "English only environment." In this context, students are required to communicate in English both…

This study investigated Chinese test takers' attitudes towards the Versant English Test (VET), an automated spoken English test developed by Pearson Knowledge Technologies. Based on previous attitudinal studies, 'attitude' in this study was conceptualized as a hypothetical psychological construct which consisted of three components: beliefs,…