The National Matriculation English Test (NMET), also known as the Gaokao English Examination, is a high-stakes, large-scale selection test for tertiary education in China, with numerous provinces and regions adopting the standardized national test papers. The validity of the NMET has garnered extensive attention. To verify the NMET's validity, it…

To explore the washback of the HSK on students learning Chinese as a Second Language (CSL), the study surveyed 1,616 SCL students from 25 different mother tongue backgrounds and interviewed international students studying in China through questionnaire and interview. The following was found in this study: (a) The HSK influenced both the process…

This paper presents a critical evaluation of the English Test for International Communication (ETIC), a large-scale, computer-based, and criterion-referenced English language proficiency test developed by the China Language Assessment in 2016. The ETIC test battery comprises five categories: Basic, Intermediate, Advanced, Superior, and…

Released in 2018, China's Standards of English Language Ability (CSE) set a benchmark for language education and assessment in China, integrating with international standards. This study investigates whether CSE assessment literacy (understanding and applying CSE standards in assessment practice) enhances Language Assessment Literacy (LAL) among…

In the field of second language assessment, there is limited empirical research on the alignment of different language proficiency standards. This study aims to establish level correspondences for overall language proficiency between China's Standards of English Language Ability (CSE) and the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages…

This research aimed to determine the impact of the effectiveness in the application of an independent method of teaching students on their progress in achieving a certain level of Japanese. The study used key methods that implied the experimental involvement of 60 3rd- and 4th-year American and Chinese students with the N3 and N2 levels of…

It is widely believed that raters' cognition is an important aspect of writing assessment, as it has both logical and temporal priority over scores. Based on a critical review of previous research in this area, it is found that raters' cognition can be boiled to two fundamental issues: building text images and strategies for articulating scores.…

Pearson Test of English Academic (PTE Academic), a high-stakes English language proficiency test, underwent substantial revisions in 2021. The test duration was reduced from 3 h to 2 h by reducing specific task numbers and sections. This study investigates the impact of these changes on teachers' perceptions and teaching practices, areas…

Since the introduction of flipped learning, it has drawn much attention and enjoyed increasing popularity. This study attempts to investigate Chinese English majors' metacognitive strategy use in a flipped environment and the influencing factors of metacognitive strategy use. 35 subjects were asked to study the assigned online course video…

The birth of China's Standards of English Language Ability (CSELA) marks a new era of English education in China. As the country's first national English standard, CSELA is expected to significantly refine the current system of English assessment and further improve the quality of English education. Due to its relatively short history, there is…

There now exists an established body of work outlining the challenges international students can face as part of the acculturation process, including a range of academic and non-academic pressures to overcome. For many students, writing essays in academic English for the first time is problematic. This article considers pedagogical approaches for…

Studies have shown that raising L2 learners' metaphor awareness contributes to the acquisition of figurative language, which fosters students' development of language skills. However, the instruments measuring metaphor awareness, in the majority of relevant research, did not seem to have undergone proper methodological procedures for checking…

The Zhuang language test ("Vahcuengh Sawcuengh Suijbingz Gaujsi", VSSG) is the first minority language test in the People's Republic of China. It was designed with multiple goals including improving Zhuang language teaching, recruiting students for relevant majors of tertiary study, identifying proficiency for work-related applications,…

This study explored the effects of listening-based lexical focus-on-form (lexical FonF) on the acquisition and retention of morphologically complex words. One hundred eighty-two adult English learners with two levels of English proficiency (higher and lower proficiency) from a public university in mainland China were assigned to three different…

Task design has been viewed to be essential in the context of language assessment. This study investigated whether increasing task complexity affects learners' writing performance. It employs three writing tasks with different levels of complexity based on Robinson's Componential Framework. A cohort of 278 participants was selected using a simple…