This study explores the efficacy of ChatGPT-3.5, an AI chatbot, used as an Automatic Essay Scoring (AES) system and feedback provider for IELTS essay preparation. It investigates the alignment between scores given by ChatGPT-3.5 and those assigned by official IELTS examiners to establish its reliability as an AES. It also identifies the strategies…

This controlled experimental study investigated the interaction of variables associated with rating the pronunciation component of high-stakes English-language-speaking tests such as IELTS and TOEFL iBT. One hundred experienced raters who were all either familiar or unfamiliar with Brazilian-accented English or Papua New Guinean Tok Pisin-accented…

The present study explored the effects of interactionist Dynamic Assessment (DA) and age on the writing accuracy of IELTS candidates. This research investigated the existence of an interactional effect between the age of learners and the type of treatment they received. First, 140 IELTS candidates were split into two age groups, adult and young.…

Many English-medium universities employ a compensatory model to establish cutscores on English language proficiency tests for student admissions. In this model, students can have different scores on different sections of the test provided their overall score meets the admission cutscore. This practice raises questions regarding potential variation…

The measurement of test-taking strategies and practices, mostly studied through qualitative methods, has been an important aspect of language testing and assessment research. The current study examines the test-taking strategies of International English Language Testing System (IELTS) test-takers and reports the process of designing and validating…

This evaluation report examines extensive reading (ER) speed and words read by students at a Japanese university using a digital ER platform called Xreading and compares them to standardized test reading performance using the International English Language Testing System (IELTS). The study focuses on first- and second-year students who…

This study examined the semantic features of the simulated mini-lectures in the listening sections of the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) and the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) based on automatized semantic analysis to explore the content validity of the two tests. Two study corpora were utilized, the IELTS…

Although language assessments for medical professionals in the UK are changing, there is still a need for them to demonstrate their proficiency in English before working in the National Health Service (NHS). When providing English for specific purposes (ESP) courses for retraining refugee doctors, we need to consider all the potential barriers…

This study used Latent Growth Curve Modeling (LGCM) to examine the overtime patterns of the score and test-taking strategy changes in an international high-stakes standardized proficiency test. To this end, the test records of 178 Iranian IELTS repeaters were analyzed, using close- and open-ended questionnaires to measure test scores as a function…

The hybrid nature of reading-to-write tasks calls for more empirical research on understanding the relationship between L2 reading, writing, and proficiency. This study examines summaries written by 46 Emirati university students, who were asked to write a 150-word summary of an expository text on the topic of "consumerism" during class…

Research suggests that English for Specific Purposes (ESP) students in English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) contexts have difficulties understanding the passages in technical English textbooks of various fields of study including computer software engineering. Few experimental studies to date have investigated the effect of an online hybrid reading…

The same L2 speaking performance may be analysed and evaluated in very different ways by different teachers or raters. We present a new, technology-assisted research design which opens up to investigation the trajectories of convergence and divergence between raters. We tracked and recorded what different raters noticed when, whilst grading a…

Many candidates undertaking high-stakes English language proficiency tests for academic enrolment do not achieve the results they need for reasons including linguistic unreadiness, test unpreparedness, illness, an unfavourable configuration of tasks, or administrative and marking errors. Owing to the importance of meeting goals or out of a belief…

The construct of reading is presented in language assessment. Previous studies have focused on reading issues encountered by English learners, most of which are manifested by certain linguistic features: lexical bundles (LBs). Addressing this, the study aims to analyze LBs in reading comprehension passages in the Chinese National Matriculation…

I analyzed a corpus of the international English language testing system (IELTS) comprising 256 listening sections (1996-2021). The primary objective of the study was to gain insights into the assumptions made by test designers regarding the real-life contexts that test-takers will encounter. Overall, 15 superordinate topic areas and 300 subtopics…