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…

This study employed a multi-methods design to investigate the impact of preparation on Chinese test-takers' perceptions of the integrated TOEFL iBT speaking and writing design. Combining results from over 1700 surveys and 10 interviews, it was found that these Chinese test-takers, who are the most vulnerable group in the multimillion testing…

Research on Portuguese language exams in the language assessment field remains scarce. To bridge this gap, this study examined washback from the large-scale, high-stakes Portuguese proficiency tests created by the Center of Evaluation of Portuguese as a Foreign Language ("Centro de Avaliação de Português Língua Estrangeira," or CAPLE as…

The Pearson Test of English Academic (PTE-A), a widely used high-stakes language proficiency test for university admissions and migration purposes, underwent a notable change from a three-hour to a two-hour version in November 2021. The implementation of the new version has prompted inquiries into the washback effects on various stakeholders.…

Over the decades, extensive research efforts have been directed towards classifying and evaluating motivational teaching behaviours. Recent calls in motivational research, however, have emphasised the need to investigate teachers' perspectives on how they develop effective motivational strategies so that implications for motivational teaching are…

This study investigates washback effects of IELTS test on university teachers' adoption of teaching materials in the classroom in China and see how a high-stake language exam affects their teaching practices and how they and their students perceive the effectiveness of the pedagogic adjustments. To this end, individual interview to five teacher…

The extensive use of automated speech scoring in large-scale speaking assessment can be revolutionary not only to test design and rating, but also to the learning and instruction of speaking based on how students and teachers perceive and react to this technology. However, its washback remained underexplored. This mixed-method study aimed to…

High-stakes language tests are used around the world as a gatekeeping tool under the internationalization of higher education. However, the predictable aspect of the high-stakes language tests is seldom discussed, especially from students' perspectives. This study aims to address this gap by aiming to better understand how certain factors and…

Despite the increasing ownership of mobile devices among Chinese postgraduate EFL learners, relevant studies regarding mobile English learning resources (MELR) use by postgraduate learners are still lacking. This study tries to understand the uses and the motivation behind language learners' selection of MALL resources. In this research, 95…

This dissertation study presents a case study of one of the largest educational agencies in China. The study investigated the instructional effectiveness of the test prep program in Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). The purpose of this study is threefold: 1) to examine the educational effectiveness of a language proficiency test…

Existing literature indicates that assessment is a critical aspect of teaching and learning language; the outcomes of testing are vital. The history of assessment can be traced back to when exams primarily served two significant purposes in China: choosing candidates for admission into government offices and preventing corruption. Washback as a…

This paper adds an organizational dimension to the body of literature on international student mobility. Existing studies examine push/pull factors and student motivations, neglecting that students' motivations and demands are not necessarily spontaneous, but can be shaped by external forces. Drawing on interview, archival and observation data…

This study examined the perceived effects of test preparation for College English Test Band 4 (CET4) on development of language ability and test performance, which has not received sufficient attention previously. A total of 79 undergraduate students from two classes in a Chinese university participated in the study. At the end of the CET4…

As a neoliberally-driven test, China's postgraduate entrance exam is gaining an increasing attention nationwide due to the intense competition in the local market and the dramatic size of Chinese students taking the exam. Under the neoliberal mechanism, Chinese candidates are ideologically self-regulated and emotionally-driven to mobilize their…

This study explored the role of vocabulary breadth and depth in second language learners' performance in IELTS academic reading tests in China. Sixty-two Chinese learners of English as a foreign language completed a vocabulary size test, a vocabulary depth test, and an IELTS reading test. Results showed that vocabulary breadth and depth both…