Measurement of language learners' development in speaking proficiency is important for practicing language teachers, not only for assessment purposes, but also for evaluating the effectiveness of materials and approaches used. However, doing so effectively and efficiently presents challenges. Commercial speaking tests are often costly, and beyond…

This study investigated the role of ChatGPT4o as an AI peer assessor in English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) speaking classrooms, with a focus on its scoring reliability and the effectiveness of its feedback. The research involved 40 first-year English major students from two parallel classes at a Chinese university. Twenty from one class served as…

This report provides an in-depth comparison of TOEFL iBT® and the Duolingo English Test (DET) in terms of the degree to which both tests assess academic language proficiency in listening, reading, writing, and speaking. The analysis is based on publicly available documentation on both tests, including sample test questions available on the test…

Automatic Speech Scoring (ASS) has increasingly become a useful tool in oral proficiency testing for Second Language (L2) learners. However, limited studies investigate the alignment of ASS indices with the Complexity, Accuracy, and Fluency (CAF)--the three dimensions in evaluating L2 speakers' oral proficiency, and the subsequent impact indices…

English proficiency assessments have become a necessary metric for filtering and selecting prospective candidates for both academia and industry. With the rise in demand for such assessments, it has become increasingly necessary to have the automated human-interpretable results to prevent inconsistencies and ensure meaningful feedback to the…

The C-test is a type of gap-filling test designed to efficiently measure second language proficiency. The typical C-test consists of several short paragraphs with the second half of every second word deleted. The words with deleted parts are considered as items nested within the corresponding paragraph. Given this testlet structure, it is commonly…

The Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi (HSK) is a multi-level, multi-purpose Chinese proficiency test developed by the Center for Language Education and Cooperation (previously the Office of Chinese Language Council International and, henceforth, referred to by its colloquial name "Hanban"). It assesses reading, writing, and listening skills of…

With the rapid development of generative artificial intelligence (AI) frameworks (e.g., the generative pre-trained transformer [GPT]), a growing number of researchers have started to explore its potential as an automated essay scoring (AES) system. While previous studies have investigated the alignment between human ratings and GPT ratings, few…

This test review focuses on the current version (2009) of [Chinese characters omitted] (Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi), literally translated as the Chinese Language Proficiency Test and abbreviated as HSK. Tailored to non-native speakers of the Chinese language, this test consists of six proficiency levels (Levels 1 and 2 as beginners, Levels 3 and 4 as…

Technology has paved the way for new modalities in language learning, teaching, and assessment. However, there is still a great deal of work to be done to develop such tools for oral communication, specifically tools that address suprasegmental features in pronunciation instruction. Therefore, this critical literature review examines how…

Measuring language dominance, broadly defined as the relative strength of each of a bilingual's two languages, remains a crucial methodological issue in bilingualism research. While various methods have been proposed, the Bilingual Language Profile (BLP) has been one of the most widely used tools for measuring language dominance. While previous…

The present study aimed to determine whether using culture-themed documentaries in Turkish teaching of B2 level international students has effects on the development of guided writing skills. The study had an action-research design, which is one of the qualitative study approaches. The study group consisted of 12 international students at the B2…

In his philosophical novel, Thus spoke Zarathustra, Nietzsche (1883-85), famously wrote, 'God is dead,' signifying that God is no longer credible as an absolute moral compass. Over a century later, Paikeday (1985), proclaimed that "The native speaker is dead!" in his book title, implying that the native speaker as the arbiter of what is…

This study is an exploratory analysis of examinee behavior in a large-scale language proficiency test. Despite a number-right scoring system with no penalty for guessing, we found that 16% of examinees omitted at least one answer and that women were more likely than men to omit answers. Item-response theory analyses treating the omitted responses…

Purpose: This study builds a new system for automatically assessing learners' speech elicited from an oral discourse completion task (DCT), and evaluates the prediction capability of the system with a view to better understanding factors deemed influential in predicting speaking proficiency scores and the pedagogical implications of the system.…