This article provides a detailed review of the Computer-based English Listening Speaking Test (CELST) used in Guangdong, China, as part of the National Matriculation English Test (NMET) to assess students' English proficiency. The CELST measures listening and speaking skills as outlined in the "English Curriculum for Senior Middle…

Remote proctoring, or monitoring test takers through internet-based, video-recording software, has become critical for maintaining test security on high-stakes assessments. The main role of remote proctors is to make judgments about test takers' behaviors and decide whether these behaviors constitute rule violations. Variability in proctor…

As our understanding of the construct of oral communication (OC) has evolved, so have the possibilities of computer technology undertaking the delivery of tests that measure this ability. It is paramount to understand to what extent such developments lead to accurate, comprehensive, and useful assessment of OC. In this paper, we discuss five…

Corpus-based studies have offered the domain definition inference for test developers. Yet, corpus-based studies on temporal fluency measures (e.g., speech rate) have been limited, especially in the context of academic lecture settings. This made it difficult for test developers to sample representative fluency features to create authentic…

In rural Mississippi, addressing the issue of reading nonproficiency for third-grade students has posed a significant challenge. To tackle the issue's complexity, the Mississippi legislature implemented the Literacy-Based Promotion Act (LBPA), also known as the 'no social promotion grade-level retention gateway" (Barrett-Tatum et al., 2019).…

Our world has been transformed by technologies incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) within mass communication, employment, entertainment and many other aspects of our daily lives. However, within the domain of education, it seems that our ways of working and, particularly, assessing have hardly changed at all. We continue to prize…

How can one construct a test that provides accurate measurements across the range of performance levels while providing adequate coverage of all of the critical areas of the domain, yet that is not unmanageably long? This paper discusses the approach taken in a linear test of academic English language, and how the transition to a computer-based…

Mobile-assisted Language Learning (MALL) has been widely adopted in teaching and learning, yet there has been scant research concerning speaking test adaptation. An emerging type of mobile application is designed to facilitate test takers' performance in a high-stakes speaking test (e.g., the International English Language Testing System (IELTS)).…

This article explores the implementation of an online high-stakes language proficiency test during the COVID-19 pandemic through a narrative inquiry of a test-designer, Eda (pseudonym). Situated in the context of Turkish higher education, this study examines Eda's narrative accounts with regard to the development of test adaptation and…

Automated assessment using Natural Language Processing (NLP) has the potential to make English speaking assessments more reliable, authentic, and accessible. Yet without careful examination, NLP may exacerbate social prejudices based on gender or native language (L1). Current NLP-based assessments are prone to such biases, yet research and…

This article reviews recent literature (2011-present) on the automated scoring (AS) of writing and speaking. Its purpose is to first survey the current research on automated scoring of language, then highlight how automated scoring impacts the present and future of assessment, teaching, and learning. The article begins by outlining the general…

Administration of high-stakes language proficiency tests has been disrupted in many parts of the world as a result of the 2019 novel coronavirus pandemic. Institutions that rely on test scores have been forced to adapt, and in many cases this means using scores from a different test, or a new online version of an existing test, that can be taken…

This paper compares and analyzes a selection of popular multilevel tests used for quick accreditation of English as a foreign language worldwide. The paper begins by stating the current need of accreditation of English language competence for both academic and professional matters. It then looks at their defining features and differences. After,…

This study investigated U.S. undergraduates' perceptions of non-native speakers' (NNS) speech which had received 100% proficiency scores on the TOEFL iBT test. Fifty-five U.S. undergraduates rated 20 speech samples for comprehensibility, accentedness, and acceptability. The speech samples were also analyzed for acoustic fluency. Descriptively,…

With over one million emergent bilinguals enrolled in Texas public schools, a call to action and a review of high-stakes online assessment policy for this student population is essential to achieve equity in education. The purpose of this phenomenological study aimed to explore teachers' perceptions of high-stakes online TELPAS testing and digital…