In an attempt to help the students of the English Study Program in Universitas Sembilanbelas November improve their English proficiency, the researcher used computer-based learning multimedia. The objective of the treatment was to overcome the students' low performance in English by creating an enjoyable atmosphere. To investigate how…

Amongst extensive research on thesis writing quality, few provide a detailed account of common writing challenges/errors as perceived by examiners vs. students. In this study, eight recent English theses marked-up by examiners and defended in Iranian universities were selected randomly among those thesis made available (n=45). Based on an…

This study investigated the elicited imitation task (EIT) as a tool for measuring linguistic proficiency in a second/foreign (L2) language, focusing on French. Nonnative French speakers (n = 94) and native French speakers (n = 6) completed an EIT that included 50 sentences varying in length and complexity. Three raters evaluated productions on…

This study investigated L2 leaners' preferences between native-speaking teachers (NST) and non-native-speaking teachers (NNST) as their English pronunciation teacher, and examined the participants' accentedness and comprehensibility in L2-English pronunciation after being taught by a NST and a NNST. The participants were 30 undergraduates who were…

Assessment is a crucial factor in higher education where marks gained can determine future study and career options. Increasing student numbers, and an increasing proportion of international students, raises concerns regarding marking practices, and whether the same criteria are used to mark both native-speaker (NS) and non-native-speaker (NNS)…

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 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…

The most significant constructs of ESL pronunciation models are "accentedness," "intelligibility," and "comprehensibility" (Derwing & Munro 2005; Jenkins, 2000; Pickering, 2006). It is clear though that the assessment of these characteristics shows no consideration for the potential affection of the assessor…

This study explores which features of Spanish as a foreign language (SFL) pronunciation most impact raters' evaluations. Native Spanish speakers (NSSs) from regions with different pronunciation norms were polled: 147 evaluators from northern Mexico and 99 evaluators from central Argentina. These evaluations were contrasted with ratings from…

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…

Along with a more humanitarian movement in language testing, accountability to contextual variables in the design and development of any assessment enterprise is emphasized. However, when it comes to writing assessment, it is found that multiplicity of rating scales developed to fit diverse contexts is mainly headed by well-known native testing…

In recent years, school-based assessment (SBA) has been incorporated into the English Language subject of a traditional high-stakes public examination, the Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination. As reactions from various stakeholder groups have been mixed, it was necessary to review this new practice. This paper reports on a study of 33…

Program and /or course evaluation is a process in which different types of data are collected systematically in order to study the virtues and weaknesses of a language instruction program. Program evaluation is, in fact, one of the essential aspects of any curriculum. It is a kind of quality control in which various aspects of an instructional…

This study aimed to investigate the characteristics and developmental phenomena apparent in Japanese learners of English with their raters' perspectives in terms of fluency which has been recognized as a major factor in judging non-native speakers' proficiency. The following temporal indices demonstrated strong relationships with the raters'…

Speaking proceeds under the constraint of time. While speaking, speakers are under constant pressure to follow the message being received and to formulate rapid responses to their partners. In the IELTS (International English Language Testing System) Speaking Test, the communicative nature of the interview creates an ideal situation for applicants…