Some strands of research on teacher cognition have remained predominantly cognitive and overlooked the socially-mediated nature of teachers' thoughts. One such strand is the research on teachers' pedagogical knowledge base, defined as the thought units/categories underlying teachers' instructional performance. To address this gap, the present…

One of the main challenges higher educational institutions encounter amid the recent COVID-19 crisis is transferring assessment approaches from the traditional face-to-face form to the online Emergency Remote Teaching approach. A set of language assessment principles, practicality, reliability, validity, authenticity, and washback, which can be…

Washback, that is, the effect of tests on teaching and learning, has captured the interest of scholars in applied linguistics for almost 30 years. However, most research has been conducted on large-scale tests, rather than classroom-based language assessments like ACTFL's Integrated Performance Assessment (IPA). The present study explored washback…

This article reports a mixed-method study that examined the washback effect from a locally-produced, theme-based, high-stakes English language proficiency test in tertiary education in a Turkish EAP context. The aim was to explore the extent to which washback on teaching was induced by an integrated theme-based English proficiency test designed to…

The limitations of objectives tests, the language skills needed for university work, and effective ways of appraising and communicating these skills to the university are discussed. The goals of university English as a second language (ESL) programs is to train international students in the linguistic and academic skills they will need in American…

The detrimental effects of anxiety in English as a second language/foreign language (ESL/FL) are investigated. Although empirical research on the subject of ESL/FL test affect is limited, helpful insights on test anxiety exist in the psychological literature. Two constructs in the anxiety literature are considered relevant for this study: trait…

This study examines the effects of foreign students' knowledge of a particular academic area on their comprehension of written texts in English. The students' university majors or areas of study included administration and finance, engineering, math and/or physics, and liberal arts. In two studies, the students performed tasks related to texts in…

Current practices for assessment of language in bilingual students frequently involve the use of tests translated from English to the target language or tests designed for, and normed on, monolingual people. This Digest explains why these common approaches are not well suited for a bilingual population and provides guidance regarding more suitable…

A comparison of two well-known test formats for evaluating and characterizing foreign language learners' interlanguages revealed that open-ended production test questions were more difficult than closed-item recognition test questions. (CB)

Three arguments are generally advanced about why language testing is not more familiar to teachers. The arguments are that the material on testing is not readily available or relevant to teaching, that it is out of date, and that it is not taught in teacher training or in-service training. A review of research led to inconclusive evidence on the…

The setting of a cut-off score on a mastery test usually involves a consideration of one or more of the following elements: (1) the distribution of observed test scores; (2) the type of mastery criterion used; (3) the level of acceptable risks of mis-classification; (4) the loss of functions of mis-classifications; and (5) the distribution of true…

Examines various forms of pure skills and skills combination laboratory testing developed at the Geddes Language Center (GLC) of Boston University during the past 10 years. Discusses suggestions for refinements and basic testing principles for each format, based on an evaluation of oral/aural exams on file at GLC. (MES)

To study the adequacy of the brief oral examination format as a basis for assessing oral skills, the study compared samples of 15-minute oral exams with 3-hour written exam results by the same students. The resultant average size of oral samples was about 77% of that of written samples, with good comparability, leading to useful conclusions about…

The commonly-occurring mismatch between second language student and course level, resulting in student boredom or intimidation, is due to overreliance on standardized language tests. These tests emphasize passive skills, such as recognition of grammatical structures and translation, and they ignore the element of communicative competence. As a…

The purpose of this research was to compare two different forms of a placement test in French as a second language at the post-secondary level, a conventional test and a computerized test. First, expectations regarding a placement test as a measure of general proficiency are discussed and principles of adaptive testing that have been used to…