An increasing number of language testing companies are developing and deploying deep learning-based automated essay scoring systems (AES) to replace traditional approaches that rely on handcrafted feature extraction. However, there is hesitation to accept neural network approaches to automated essay scoring because the features are automatically…

The International English Language Testing System (IELTS) is a high-stakes exam where Writing Task 2 significantly influences the overall scores, requiring reliable evaluation. While trained human raters perform this task, concerns about subjectivity and inconsistency have led to growing interest in artificial intelligence (AI)-based assessment…

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…

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…

Studies on automatic scoring systems in writing assessments have also evaluated the relationship between human and machine scores for the reliability of automated essay scoring systems. This study investigated the magnitudes of indices for inter-rater agreement and discrepancy, especially regarding human and machine scoring, in writing assessment.…

The assessment of speaking skills in foreign language testing has always had some pros (testing learners' speaking skills doubles the validity of any language test) and cons (many testrelevant/irrelevant variables interfere) since it is a multi-dimensional process. In the meantime, exploring grader behaviours while scoring learners' speaking…

Scoring language learners' speaking skills is open to a number of measurement errors since raters' personal judgements could involve in the process. Different grading designs in which raters score a student's whole speaking skills or a specific dimension of the speaking performance could be settled to control and minimize the amount of the error…

In this study, it was aimed to examine the interrater reliability of the scoring of paragraph writing skills on foreign languages with the measurement invariance tests. The study group consists of 267 students studying English at the Preparatory School at Gazi University. In the study, where students write a paragraph on the same topic, the…

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…

This study searched for open-source semantic similarity tools and evaluated their effectiveness in automated content scoring of fact-based essays written by English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) learners. Fifty writing samples under a fact-based writing task from an academic English course in a Japanese university were collected and a gold standard…

This study employed a mixed-design approach and the Many-Facet Rasch Measurement (MFRM) framework to investigate whether rater bias occurred between the onscreen scoring (OSS) mode and the paper-based scoring (PBS) mode. Nine human raters analytically marked scanned scripts and paper scripts using a six-category (i.e., six-criterion) rating…

Rater subjectivity has long been an intriguing topic. The use of discussion as a resolution method is a practical way to reduce this subjectivity. However, the efficacy of discussion depends on whether different raters get equally engaged in it or one rater tends to dominate others. This study investigated whether and how rater dominance occurs in…

The elicited imitation task (EIT), in which language learners listen to a series of spoken sentences and repeat each one verbatim, is a commonly used measure of language proficiency in second language acquisition research. The "TOEFL® Essentials"™ test includes an EIT as a holistic measure of speaking proficiency, referred to as the…

In this research report, we describe the design and empirical findings for a large-scale study of essay writing ability with approximately 2,500 high school students in Germany and Switzerland on the basis of 2 tasks with 2 associated prompts, each from a standardized writing assessment whose scoring involved both human and automated components.…

Threats to construct validity should be reduced to a minimum. If true, sources of bias, namely raters, items, tests as well as gender, age, race, language background, culture, and socio-economic status need to be spotted and removed. This study investigates raters' experience, language background, and the choice of essay prompt as potential…