Learning-oriented assessment (LOA) is becoming increasingly popular in language education. The rationale for this popularity is the belief that LOA not only provides teachers with the necessary information for regular and ongoing evaluation but also it effectively assists learners in their learning process. This study attempted to examine the…

Peer review is generally regarded as a useful learning tool for students, providing them with opportunities to interact with their peers when engaging in the process of critical reading and critical thinking, thus possibly raising students' motivation to learn. For peer review to be a manageable task for students, appropriate scaffolding is…

This paper briefly reviews the literature on writing skill in second language. It commences with a discussion on the importance of writing and its special characteristics. Then, it gives a brief account of the reasons for the weakness of students' writing skill as well as addressing some of the most important topics in L2 writing studies ranging…

In a relatively short period of time, massive open online courses (MOOCs) have become a considerable topic of research and debate, and the number of available MOOCs is rapidly growing. Along with issues of formal recognition and accreditation, this growth in the number of MOOCs being developed increases the relevance of assessment quality. Within…

Automated essay scoring engines (AESEs) are becoming increasingly popular as an efficient method for performance assessments in writing, including many language assessments that are used worldwide. Before they can be used operationally, AESEs must be "trained" using machine-learning techniques that incorporate human ratings. However, the…

Expert readers' responses to texts offer specific, meaningful insights useful in building English language arts models (ELA) for student writers. In the case of academic peer review, previous research has demonstrated that expert reviewers have specific expectations involving readers, texts, and processes. Identifying congruence between research…

Many undergraduate research capstones require research papers that include a literature review. This study assessed whether modifications made to teaching of a literature review resulted in significant changes to quantified measures of assessment. Literature reviews in the final economics capstone research papers of 212 students from the 2005-2016…

Literacy standards increasingly emphasize the importance of analytic text-based writing. Little consensus exists, however, around what high-quality student responses should look like in this genre. In this study, we investigated fifth-grade students' writing in response to analytic text-based writing tasks (15 teachers, 44 writing tasks, 88 pieces…

This article employs the Common European Framework Reference for Language Acquisition (CEFR) as a basis for evaluating writing in the context of machine scoring. The CEFR was designed as a framework for evaluating proficiency levels of speaking for the 49 languages comprising the European Union. The intent was to impact language instruction so…

Students are often challenged by the demand of writing cohesive explanatory texts. Prior research has shown that providing students with concept map feedback that visualizes explanatory cohesion deficits helped students generate more cohesive explanations. We conducted an experiment to investigate whether the accuracy of the provided information…

Previous studies have shown that inquiry-based learning (IBL) and flipped learning effectively promote student engagement and learning outcomes in language classrooms. Meanwhile, technology-enhanced formative assessment (TEFA) with well-designed instructional strategies can provide engaging learning opportunities for learners of English as a…

Technology and digitalization have significantly transformed the educational landscape, playing a crucial role in the teaching and learning. This study investigates the flipped digital classroom learning approach as an innovative method to enhance learners' writing skills. The research objectives are to: (i) evaluate the effectiveness of…

Rating scales for writing assessment are critical in that they determine directly the quality and fairness of such performance tests. However, in many EFL contexts, rating scales are made, to certain extent, based on the intuition of teachers who strongly need a feasible and scientific route to guide their construction of rating scales. This study…

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of exposing learners to authentic online reading materialson their written outputs (writing summaries and reflective essays). The quantitative method specifically the one-shot pretest-posttest experimental design was adopted. An online course was designed learners writing through reading…

Although much research has compared the functioning between analytic and holistic rating scales, little research has compared the functioning of binary rating scales with other types of rating scales. This quantitative study set out to preliminarily and comparatively validate binary and analytic rating scales intended for use in formative…