To examine the effects of listening test preparation, we had three groups, two experimental and one control (63 learners total), partake in three types of instruction sandwiched between two equally difficult listening tests (pretests and posttests). The first experimental group took four practice tests and received "explicit"…

Fifteen years after its publication, the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages is a commonly used document in language tests and policies across Europe. This article considers the CEFR's impact on university entrance language tests and policies that are used to regulate the entrance of international L2 students who wish to study in…

This research explores how Internet-based video-conferencing technology can be used to deliver and conduct a speaking test, and what similarities and differences can be discerned between the standard and computer-mediated face-to-face modes. The context of the study is a high-stakes speaking test, and the motivation for the research is the need…

One major threat to validity in high-stakes testing is construct-irrelevant variance. In this study we explored whether the transition from a paper-and-pencil to a computer-based test mode in a high-stakes test in China, the College English Test, has brought about variance irrelevant to the construct being assessed in this test. Analyses of the…

Despite the wide use of language tests as a basis for awarding English language course credits at Japanese universities, little has been published about how universities set policies on awarding credits according to external test scores. To narrow this gap, the characteristics of such policies were investigated in relation to the EIKEN Test in…

This article reports on a study of foreign students' success in higher education in Norway and focuses specifically on the relation between academic success and students' proficiency level of Norwegian as measured by a CEFR-based university entrance test. This study is distinguished from prior studies because it sets out to investigate not only…

This article addresses the suitability of the CEFR as the basis for decisions about the readiness of individuals to engage in academic writing tasks in undergraduate university courses, and as a guide to progress. The CEFR offers potentially relevant general scales and subscales, but also more specific subscales for writing in the academic…

This study used think-aloud protocols to compare essay-rating processes across holistic and analytic rating scales in the context of China's College English Test Band 6 (CET-6). A group of 9 experienced CET-6 raters scored the same batch of 10 CET-6 essays produced in an operational CET-6 administration twice, using both the CET-6 holistic…

This study discusses the self-assessments of over 22,500 students on a set of 12 can-do statements that are taken from the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR). The students' endorsement or negation of the statements reflects their sense of self-efficacy in English reading, writing, and listening. Their self-efficacy beliefs are compared…

Contract learning as an approach to individualizing education in the context of assessment for learning is relatively underexplored in English as a Foreign Language instruction. The present study used a mixed-methods design to investigate its efficacy to provide feedback to students and improve self-directed learning. Furthermore, it studied…

This article reports on an investigation of the role raters' language background plays in raters' assessment of test takers' speaking ability. Specifically, this article examines differences between American and Indian raters in their scores and scoring processes when rating Indian test takers' responses to the Test of English as a Foreign…

Human raters are normally involved in L2 performance assessment; as a result, rater behavior has been widely investigated to reduce rater effects on test scores and to provide validity arguments. Yet raters' cognition and use of rubrics in their actual rating have rarely been explored qualitatively in L2 speaking assessments. In this study three…

Training of pre- and in-service teachers constitutes one of the most important aspects in the quality assurance of language testing and assessment (LTA). For instance, foreign language (FL) teachers have to deal with standardised tests as well as their own classroom-based assessment procedures. This means they need the necessary expertise that can…

In this study we compare test takers' performance on the Speaking section of the TOEFL iBT™and their performances during their real-life academic studies. Thirty international graduate students from mixed language backgrounds in two different disciplines (Sciences and Social Sciences) responded to two independent and four integrated speaking tasks…

In recent years, the emphasis in second language (L2) oral proficiency assessment has shifted from linguistic accuracy to discourse strategies such as the ability to initiate, respond, and negotiate meaning. This has resulted in a growing interest in the discourse analysis of students' performance in different oral proficiency assessment formats.…