High-stakes reading tests significantly influence one's future success, leading many second language learners to engage in intensive test preparation. This study examines nine TOEFL reading preparation lectures from two popular cram schools, or [foreign characters omitted] "hagwons," in Korea, with a total duration of five hours and…

The premise of this research is that analytical and extensive reading in a digital environment might be used to facilitate second language acquisition at the tertiary education level. Despite the general orientation toward communicative methods in modern second language acquisition, reading methods and techniques have seen an unexpected yet very…

The purpose of this study was to examine the impacts of AI-integrated MALL on Korean students' TOEIC preparation, by comparing with AI-integrated CALL. A total of 496 freshmen students participated in this study. They were arbitrarily assigned to AI CALL (n = 190), AI MALL (n = 164), and the control (n = 132) groups. During a 2021 academic…

Formally launched in September 2018, the ACT® Certified Educator™ program is a professional learning and credentialing program designed to help educators improve their teaching and tutoring strategies and skills and be fully equipped to support student learning in the core content areas of the ACT® test. In this study, participants' views of the…

The Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) is the standard in the college admissions process, leading to the inclusion of preparation classes in Intensive English Program (IEP) curricula. But does preparing for the TOEFL in isolation yield optimal results for IEP college hopefuls? In this article, we will share information about the…

This column explains three ways that teachers can improve reading test performance. Basically, the idea is that instead of teaching students to respond to particular question types as is typical of test preparation despite the ineffectiveness of this practice, it is better to teach students to read the test passages more effectively. Three…

Tests require a special kind of savvy, a kind of critical thinking and knowledge application that is not always a part of classroom reading experiences. Who better to teach you how to prepare your students for reading tests than someone who has written them? Charles Fuhrken has spent years working with several major testing companies and…

This study examines the reading performance of selected students at the Pre-College program of the Mahidol University International College (PC-MUIC) as they are required to attain a score of 520 in the TOEFL-ITP (or equivalent performance in IELTS) to enter MUIC. Specifically, this research aims to evaluate whether the reading skills that…

By viewing standardized reading tests as a unique genre that could be taught, the author designed a two-week genre study for her reading workshop. The article describes how she planned, taught, and reflected on the unit. This genre study resolved some of the dilemmas she faced around preparing students for mandated testing. (Contains 1 table and 2…