The Production Effect (PE) is a memory phenomenon, referring to memory advantage for produced items (read aloud) over non-produced items (read silently). Since vocalizing shows consistent memory benefits, it has been suggested as a mnemonic that can be used to assist vocabulary learning. The present study investigated the PE in L2 vocabulary…

Dictation is a traditional technique for both teaching and testing overall language ability and listening comprehension. In a dictation, a passage is read aloud by the teacher and examinees write down what they hear. Due to the peculiar form of dictations, psychometric analysis of dictations is challenging. In a dictation, there is no clear…

Listening comprehension in English, as one of the most fundamental skills, has an essential role in the process of learning English. Mokken scale analysis (MSA) is a probabilistic-nonparametric approach to item response theory (IRT) which determines the one-dimensionality and scalability of test. Mokken scaling techniques are a useful tool for…

When used in a sensible way, Interactive Whiteboards (IWB) are supposed to motivate and engage students in learning in the classroom. Thereby, they might also stimulate students who are usually more restrained, such as more anxious students. However, the body of research on the impact of IWB lessons is rather small. The present study investigated…

In response to the calls for making key stakeholders' perspectives relevant in the test validation process, the study discussed in this report sought test-taker feedback as part of collecting validity evidence and supporting the ongoing field testing efforts of the new "TOEFL ITP"® Speaking section. Specifically, I aimed to investigate…

Synthetically generated speech (SGS) has become an integral part of our oral communication in a wide variety of contexts. It can be generated instantly at a low cost and allows precise control over multiple aspects of output, all of which can be highly appealing to second language (L2) assessment developers who have traditionally relied upon human…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between parent concerns about children's oral language, reading, and related skills and their children's performance on standardized assessments of language and reading, with a particular focus on whether those relationships differed between children recruited for in-school versus…

International students have comprised a steadily growing demographic in America's colleges and universities for the past seventy-five years. Over the many years and decades, the proportion of international students whose first language is not English has also increased. Subsequently, American higher education has come to rely on an important…

The study aims to determine whether exposing EFL Saudi undergraduate students to TED talks could effectively contribute to the improvement of their oral language proficiency. To achieve this goal, 32 English as a Foreign Language Saudi undergraduate students were recruited to participate in the study. These students were selected based on their…

Mobile-assisted Language Learning (MALL) has been widely adopted in teaching and learning, yet there has been scant research concerning speaking test adaptation. An emerging type of mobile application is designed to facilitate test takers' performance in a high-stakes speaking test (e.g., the International English Language Testing System (IELTS)).…

This study investigates the effects of three word-focused exercise conditions on vocabulary learning. The exercises were developed based on the involvement load hypothesis. This study also explores how individual differences (e.g. second-language English proficiency level and working memory) affect vocabulary learning outcomes. A total of 180…

Purpose: Drawing on the perspectives of cultural capital theory, this study investigated the impact of international internships on the performance of Japanese undergraduates on the Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC) using a between-group pretest-posttest experimental design. Design/methodology/approach: Students participating…

This study explores whether middle-school students can exploit explicitly addressed crosslinguistic lexical similarities between German and English to learn vocabulary more efficiently. Across six weeks, 260 Swiss German learners of English as a foreign language (17 classes) completed three vocabulary learning tests (T1, T2 and T3). Additionally,…

How does the act of explaining influence learning? Prior work has studied effects of explaining through a predominantly proximal lens, measuring short-term outcomes or manipulations within lab settings. Here, we ask whether the benefits of explaining extend to academic performance over time. Specifically, does the quality and frequency of student…

The paper examines the relationship between EFL learners' first impressions of their instructors and their speaking performance. The study employed a mixed-methods approach, combining a test and a questionnaire to provide a comprehensive analysis. The participants were 81 EFL learners at Taif University. The results revealed that the correlation…