Backgound: Having been influenced by the trend of internationalization of higher education, most universities in Taiwan have implemented an English benchmark requirement for graduation, which requires students to demonstrate their English ability at a specified Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) level through taking a standardized English language test (e.g., GEPT, IELT...

Introduction In recent decades, large-scale English language proficiency testing and testing research have seen an increased interest in constructed-response essay-writing items (Aschbacher, 1991; Powers, Burstein, Chodorow, Fowles, & Kukich, 2001; Weigle, 2002). The TOEFL iBT, for example, includes two constructed-response writing tasks, one of which is an integrative task requiring the test-t...

Globalization has made English more important than ever. Through time, curriculum designers and teacher practitioners remain steadfast in finding ways to advance the quality of student learning. To ascertain language teaching learning, parameters like standardized tests are set. This paper examined, at cross-country level, difference between 2009 2013 Test as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) iBT scor...

In this study we investigated the extent to which writing proficiency predicts L2 writers’ speed fluency, pausing, and eye-gaze behaviours cognitive processes that underlie pausing. Additionally, explored whether these relationships were influenced by stage of (beginning, middle stages, end). The participants 60 Chinese second language users English, with levels ranging from CEFR B1 C1 levels. ...

Japan is faced with an imminent challenge of cultivating ‘global human resources’, as the whole society delves into the global information society. The Course of Study defined by the Ministry of Education, Culture, and Sports and Technology (MEXT) of the Japanese government has emphasized communicative competence and / or ‘communication skills’ as a focus of the foreign language subjects (e.g.,...

Applicants must often demonstrate adequate English proficiency when applying to postsecondary institutions by taking an language test, such as the TOEFL iBT, IELTS Academic, or Duolingo Test (DET). Concordance tables aim provide equivalent scores across multiple assessments, helping admissions officers make fair decisions regardless of test that applicant took. We present our approaches address...

the purpose of this research was to analyze efl writing tasks in two of the most popular english for speakers of other languages (esol) exam preparation courses in iran, namely ielts and toefl. having collected the criteria of writing task appropriateness in light of the process-oriented approach to writing instruction, we asked 60 learner participants to rate efl writing tasks in 3 ielts and 3...