The current paper examined the impact of Dynamic Assessment (DA) on the speaking skills of EFL learners applying socio-cultural theory, which was developed by Vygotsky (1934). The study also tried to compare the results from online synchronous DA sessions, which were done in the form of one-to-one online training over Google Meet, with the results…

Technology-enhanced items (TEIs) are innovative, computer-delivered test items that allow test takers to better interact with the test environment compared to traditional multiple-choice items (MCIs). The interactive nature of TEIs offer improved construct coverage compared with MCIs but little research exists regarding students' performance on…

The assessment of oral proficiency in English for Specific Purposes (ESP) contexts remains a central challenge for researchers, test developers, and classroom teachers (Knoch & Macqueen, 2020). This problem is apparent especially in Tourism and Hotel Management (THM) programs, where students are tested mostly based on grammar, vocabulary, and…

Assessing language skills in an integrative form has drawn the attention of assessment experts in recent years. While some research data exists on integrative listening/reading-to-write assessment, there is comparatively little research literature on listening-to-speak integrated assessment. Also, little attention has been devoted to the role of…

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…

Background: Middle school students use the information conveyed by morphemes (i.e., units of meaning such as prefixes, root words and suffixes) in different ways to support their literacy endeavours, suggesting the likelihood that morphological knowledge is multidimensional. This has important implications for assessment. Methods: The current…

It has been argued that successful professional development efforts, especially in assessment-literacy, need to address emotional components and the existence of implicit conceptions in order to raise consciousness and ultimately transform practice (Xu and Brown, 2016: p. 156). Experiential approaches have been shown to be highly effective for…

This paper reports reactions by candidates to the use of online proctoring (OLP), 'invigilation', in the delivery of high-stakes English language examinations. The paper first sets the scene in terms of the move from face-to-face to online modes of delivery. It explores the challenges and benefits that both modes offer, in terms of accessibility,…

Computer-based assessments can provide students with feedback to guide their learning as well as inform teachers who extract information to prepare their teaching. Five secondary school teachers were monitored during one school year to answer the following research questions: (1) What kind of student data do teachers use for their teaching…

The present investigation explores Cognitive Test Anxiety (CTA) in a high-stake oral examination, taking into consideration how face-to-face and computer-based examination formats affect test-takers' anxiety and consequently language performance. Two speaking tests -- face-to-face and computer-based -- were developed for a Spanish university's…

The current study aims to explore the cognitive validity of the iBT TOEFL reading test by investigating test takers' eye movements on individual items. It is assumed that successful test takers would adopt the intended reading processes, the same types and levels of cognitive processes that they would use for real-world reading tasks. Forty-seven…

This report examines the Spanish language proficiency of fifth-grade students enrolled in the two-way Dual Language (DL) Program. Both native and non-native English speakers' Spanish language proficiency was assessed with the STAMP 4Se assessment in Spring 2020. Students were assessed on four domains of Spanish language proficiency (reading,…

The papers in this special issue provide support for continued scrutiny of interactional competence (IC) as an important component of the speaking construct. The contributions underscore the complex nature of IC and remind us of the multiple factors that affect any construct definition. At the same time, each study offers insights into those…

The literature on task planning abounds with studies in laboratory or classroom contexts; however, the contribution of task planning to the testing context has remained a largely uncharted area of enquiry. The current study is primarily focused on exploring the impacts of pressured vs. unpressured on-line task planning conditions on EFL students'…

For many years, technology has been applied to improve the quality of language learning and teaching. However, the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the integration of technology in different language learning contexts. The sudden shift to online teaching faced educators with an array of challenges they had not experienced before. In…