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…

This study investigates the effects that three different test presentation formats, i.e., written Korean, written English and aural English, have on EFL learners' listening comprehension. A total of 169 Korean college students participated in this study. The participants were divided into six groups, by three presentation format types and two…

This study examines the effects of text length and question type on Korean EFL readers' reading comprehension of the fill-in-the-blank items in Korean CSAT. A total of 100 Korean EFL college students participated in the study. After divided into three different proficiency groups, the participants took a reading comprehension test which consisted…

This study investigated the efficacy of retrieving EFL vocabulary from memory as a long-term retention strategy. Three learning treatments, rereading, recognizing and recalling target words, were compared with the assistance of 74 university students who underwent the treatments to learn academic American English during a 15-week semester. In…

This study investigated Korean college students' performance as measured by two different vocabulary assessment tools (the Productive Vocabulary Levels Test (PVLT) and the Productive Vocabulary Use Task (PVUT)) and the relationship these assessments have with students' writing proficiency. A total of 72 students participated in the study. The…

We adapted three practice College Scholastic Ability Tests (CSAT) of English listening, each with five-option items, to create four- and three-option versions by asking 73 Korean speakers or learners of English to eliminate the least plausible options in two rounds. Two hundred and sixty-four Korean high school English-language learners formed…

This study tracked gender differential item functioning (DIF) on the English subtest of the Korean College Scholastic Aptitude Test (KCSAT) over a nine-year period across three data points, using both the Mantel-Haenszel (MH) and item response theory likelihood ratio (IRT-LR) procedures. Further, the study identified two factors (i.e. reading…

Pictures are widely used to elicit expressive language skills, and pictures must be established as parallel before changes in ability can be demonstrated by assessment using pictures prompts. Why parallel prompts are required and what it is necessary to do to ensure that prompts are in fact parallel is not widely known. To date, evidence of…

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of response modes by item and feedback type in a web-based language learning program. The subjects of this study, 122 Korean tenth graders learning English as a foreign language, were placed into groups of four and were given a web-based language learning program consisting of two…

This paper examines the effect of gender on English reading comprehension for Korean EFL (English as a Foreign Language) learners. The gender effect was measured using a DIF (Differential Item Functioning) methodology. Specifically, gender DIF was investigated for a random sample of 14,000 Korean examinees (7,000 males and 7,000 females) who took…