This study applied the Mixed Rasch Model (MRM) to the listening comprehension section of the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) to detect latent class differential item functioning (DIF) by exploring multiple profiles of second/foreign language listeners. Item responses of 462 examinees to an IELTS listening test were subjected…

Purpose: This study aims (a) to assess the psychometric properties of a French adaptation of the Assessment of Pragmatic Abilities and Cognitive Substrates (APACS-Fr), a comprehensive test of pragmatic abilities for French-speaking adolescents and adults, and (b) to use it to study lifespan variations in pragmatic abilities, to determine when…

The purpose of this quantitative correlational study was to determine if and to what extent an ELL student's SBELP-RC could predict his or her ACPELA-RC, ACPELA-WP, and ACP-A1. Study participants were ELL students in Grades 9 to 12, attending a Northern Virginia high school. A further purpose of this study was to investigate if and to what extent…

Despite being a popular topic in language testing, cognitive load has not received enough attention in vocabulary test items. The purpose of the current study was to scrutinize the cognitive load and vocabulary test items' differences, examinees' reaction times, and perceived difficulty. To this end, 150 students were selected using…

Consideration of the influence of English language skills during testing is an understandable requirement for fair and valid cognitive test interpretation. Several professional standards and expert recommendations exist to guide psychologists as they attempt to engage in best practices when assessing English learners (ELs). Nonetheless, relatively…

This paper probes into implicit language aptitude (LA), a set of cognitive abilities that showcase learners' unconscious, automatic second language (L2) attainment. Implicit LA is becoming an important part of aptitude research, and advances the understanding of L2 learning mechanism. This paper critiques the construct of implicit LA and proposes…

Purpose: This study focuses on 7- to 9-year-old children attending primary school in Swedish areas of low socioeconomic status, where most children's school language is their second language. The aim was to better understand what factors influence these children's narrative listening comprehension both in an ideal listening condition (in quiet)…

The aim of this study was to investigate how test methods affect listening test takers' performance and cognitive load. Test methods were defined and operationalized as while-listening performance (WLP) and post-listening performance (PLP) formats. To achieve the goal of the study, we examined test takers' (N = 80) brain activity patterns…

In this study, we present the development of individualized feedback for a large-scale listening assessment by combining standard setting and cognitive diagnostic assessment (CDA) approaches. We used the performance data from 3,358 students' item-level responses to a field test of a national EFL test primarily intended for tertiary-level EFL…

Despite earlier claims that language abilities are intact in individuals with Williams syndrome (WS), many studies have shown that language development is often delayed and atypical, that is, it develops in line with different cognitive abilities compared to typically developing populations. It is unclear, however, whether general cognitive…

The purpose of this study is two-fold: 1) to investigate the effects of Data-Driven Learning (DDL) framed within the Involvement Load Hypothesis (ILH) on Thai learners' use of academic collocations and 2) to examine how Thai learners utilized the involvement load (IL) components (need, search, and evaluation) to master academic collocations. It is…

This study investigates the effects of linguistic knowledge (vocabulary knowledge) and cognitive abilities (metacognitive knowledge and cognitive styles) on the second language (L2) listening comprehension at different proficiency levels. The study has also sought to investigate whether or not cognitive abilities and L2 linguistic knowledge are…

Purpose: There is evidence suggesting that aerobic exercise immediately after vocabulary training can improve word recall in school-age children. This work examined whether the previously identified word-learning benefits associated with exercise can be extended to preschoolers. Additionally, we evaluated whether the effects of physical activity…

Integration of e-learning and computerized assessments into many levels of educational programs has been increasing as digital technology progresses. Due to a handful of prominent advantages of computer-based-testing (CBT), a rapid transition in test administration mode from paper-based-testing (PBT) to CBT has emerged. Recently, many national and…

Instructional videos for teaching second language (L2) vocabulary often feature an instructor onscreen. The instructor in the video may involuntarily produce beat gestures with their hands, as occurs in real teaching settings. Beat gestures highlight key information in speech by conveying the rhythm of the language, but do not themselves convey…