In language performance tests, raters are important as their scoring decisions determine which aspects of performance the scores represent; however, raters are considered as one of the potential sources contributing to unwanted variability in scores (Davis, 2012). Although a great number of studies have been conducted to unpack how rater…

The importance of functional adequacy as an essential component of L2 proficiency has been observed by several authors (Pallotti, 2009; De Jong, Steinel, Florijn, Schoonen, & Hulstijn, 2012a, b). The rationale underlying the present study is that the assessment of writing proficiency in L2 is not fully possible without taking into account the…

Investigation of non-native English speakers' ratings of other non-native English learners' oral proficiency. Results indicate that the judges' ratings significantly differed, and the average of three judges' ratings was a better appraisal of the testee's true ability than that of any single rating or pair of ratings. (Author/CB)

Differences between the academic (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages) and government (Foreign Service Institute) versions of the oral proficiency interview test are examined, and data from two studies of interrater reliability are presented and discussed. (MSE)

Differences in procedures used by academic institutions and government agencies in administering the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages' Oral Proficiency Interview test are examined, and results and implications of two studies of interrater reliability are discussed. (MSE)

The increasing availability and performance of computer-based testing has prompted more research on the automatic assessment of language and speaking proficiency. In this investigation, we evaluated the feasibility of using an off-the-shelf speech-recognition system for scoring speaking prompts from the LanguEdge field test of 2002. We first…