Task-based research has investigated the learning opportunities (e.g. language related episodes) that emerge during heritage and second language learner interactions during writing tasks. However, to date, it is unknown how these peer interactions involving heritage language learners contribute to written texts. Further, given the rise of social…

Synthesis writing is widely taught across domains and serves as an important means of assessing writing ability, text comprehension, and content learning. Synthesis writing differs from other types of writing in terms of both cognitive and task demands because it requires writers to integrate information across source materials. However, little is…

Ethical considerations, including transparency, play an important role when using artificial intelligence (AI) in education. Explainable AI has been coined as a solution to provide more insight into the inner workings of AI algorithms. However, carefully designed user studies on how to design explanations for AI in education are still limited. The…

This study employed a mixed-methods approach to examine how rater performance develops during a semester-long rater certification program for an English as a Second Language (ESL) writing placement test at a large US university. From 2016 to 2018, we tracked three groups of novice raters (n = 30) across four rounds in the certification program.…

We investigated the relationship between the scores assigned by an Automated Essay Scoring (AES) system, the Intelligent Essay Assessor (IEA), and grades allocated by trained, professional human raters to English essay writing by instigating two procedures novel to written-language assessment: the logistic transformation of AES raw scores into…

Purpose: Punctuation is traditionally seen to represent grammatical structures in writing, but some authors argue that it can also reflect the intonation and pauses of speech. In two experiments, we examined the influence of grammar and prosody on adults' judgments of comma placement. Method: University students rated the appropriateness of commas…

In this conceptual paper, borne from the experiences of two academic literacy lecturers at the NWU, we ask, regarding elements of assessment, how we can sensibly adapt an intervention-style writing course in a post-COVID higher education context. We propose a course correction model, applicable to academic literacy writing courses, to address the…

Writing is an important part of creative thinking as it is the reflection of a person's thoughts and reasoning. The aim with this study was to create a comprehensive and effective educational model that combines the teaching and practice of writing as a process and creative writing in a collaborative environment in the education of prospective…

Automated writing evaluation (AWE) software is an increasingly popular tool for English second language learners. However, research on the accuracy of such software has been both scarce and largely limited in its scope. As such, this article broadens the field of research on AWE accuracy by using a mixed design to holistically evaluate the…

Whether dealing with their native or a foreign language, both teachers and students have consistently found writing skills to be difficult to achieve. Students are concerned about initiating and structuring their thoughts, while teachers struggle to inspire their students to improve their writing capabilities. Hence, this experimental study…

This study offers a bibliometric overview of the English language assessment research from 1992 to 2024. It aims to uncover the current state, research trends, and future directions of the field. A total of 927 articles published in Web of Science (WoS) were analyzed using the VOSviewer bibliometric software tool. Based on the sample of 927…

With the rapid development of generative artificial intelligence (AI) frameworks (e.g., the generative pre-trained transformer [GPT]), a growing number of researchers have started to explore its potential as an automated essay scoring (AES) system. While previous studies have investigated the alignment between human ratings and GPT ratings, few…

This study aimed to compare the impact of e-portfolios on the motivation and autonomy of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners. Ninety intermediate learners were selected from 120 volunteers at a Tehran Language Institute. They were divided into three groups: two experimental groups using eportfolios and the other using paper-based…

This study explores how connecting reading and writing through a process-genre approach enhances EFL learners' academic writing competence. Based on quantitative and qualitative data, the study demonstrates that students made statistically significant improvements across seven writing traits, with the most substantial gains observed in discourse…

The halo effect is raters' undesirable tendency to assign more similar ratings across rating criteria than they should. The impacts of the halo effect on ratings have been studied in rater-mediated L2 writing assessment. Little is known, however, about the extent to which rating criteria order in analytic rating scales is associated with the…