Language proficiency policies act as critical gatekeepers for multilingual international students (MIS) who intend to pursue an education at English-medium universities. The current study revisits the question of the predictive validity of a standardized English proficiency exam--International English Language Testing System (IELTS)--in comparison…

Content analysis studies have become popular in Turkey. Different content analysis studies have been made on different aspects of English language teaching in Turkey, but they have not focused on the graduate research on English language assessment and evaluation in Turkey. Therefore, the present study aimed to review the graduate studies on…

Given recent study abroad trends, Latin America (LATAM) offers untapped potential to contribute to U.S. campus internationalization. To diversify student populations and increase enrollment from LATAM, stakeholders should consider the language, academic, and cultural experiences of LATAM students admitted to U.S. graduate schools. This study…

Essay writing is a common type of constructed-response task used frequently in standardized writing assessments. However, the impromptu timed nature of the essay writing tests has drawn increasing criticism for the lack of authenticity for real-world writing in classroom and workplace settings. The goal of this paper is to contribute evidence to a…

To score an essay response, raters draw on previously trained skills and knowledge about the underlying rubric and score criterion. Cognitive processes such as remembering, forgetting, and skill decay likely influence rater performance. To investigate how forgetting influences scoring, we evaluated raters' scoring accuracy on TOEFL and GRE essays.…

Predicting student success in a data science degree program is a challenging task due to the interdisciplinary nature of the field, the diverse backgrounds of the students, and an incomplete understanding of the precise skills that are most critical to success. In this study, the applicant's future academic performance in a Master of Data Science…

The United States continues to be a top destination for international students pursuing an advanced degree. Some information about the characteristics of international students applying to graduate programs in the United States is available, but little is known about how these characteristics are related to test taker performance on graduate…

This study examined the relationship between attachment, travel experiences, and English proficiency and international students' acculturative stress and depressive symptoms. A total of 91 graduate international students completed online surveys. Pearson correlations showed that both attachment anxiety and avoidance were positively correlated with…

In this study, we used Conceptual Metaphor Theory (henceforth CMT) for the benefit of English for Academic Purposes' teaching and learning. CMT underpins how in metaphorical expressions, one concept is understood in terms of another. We argue that CMT can help students understand and master argumentation skills and essay structure, although there…

Best linear prediction (BLP) and penalized best linear prediction (PBLP) are techniques for combining sources of information to produce task scores, section scores, and composite test scores. The report examines issues to consider in operational implementation of BLP and PBLP in testing programs administered by ETS [Educational Testing Service].

Over the last three decades, the study of test preparation and test washback has emerged as an indispensable area of inquiry in language assessment. Yet, how test takers' motivation and perceptions of test design and content might mediate test preparation has not been given sufficient attention. Taking the general English module of a high stakes…

This paper adds an organizational dimension to the body of literature on international student mobility. Existing studies examine push/pull factors and student motivations, neglecting that students' motivations and demands are not necessarily spontaneous, but can be shaped by external forces. Drawing on interview, archival and observation data…

"Project 211" is one of the most important educational policies in China, which aims at selecting a small number of "key universities" for sustainable development in the 21st century. These selected "key universities" have received substantial funding from the government so they can recruit outstanding faculty and be…

Many assessments of writing proficiency that aid in making high-stakes decisions consist of several essay tasks evaluated by a combination of human holistic scores and computer-generated scores for essay features such as the rate of grammatical errors per word. Under typical conditions, a summary writing score is provided by a linear combination…

In this article, the authors first summarize the literature on project-based language learning (PBLL), a sound approach to second language teaching, addressing its various benefits such as providing opportunities to develop language authentically in real-world contexts, building decision-making and problem-solving skills, and developing content…