Language Testing, Volume 42, Issue 1, Page 73-99, January 2025.
The current study examined the extent to which first language (L1) utterance fluency measures can predict second language (L2) fluency and how L2 proficiency moderates the relationship between L1 and L2 fluency. A total of 104 Japanese-speaking learners ...

Language Testing, Volume 42, Issue 1, Page 48-72, January 2025.
This experimental study explores how source use features impact raters’ judgment of argumentation in a second language (L2) integrated writing test. One hundred four experienced and novice raters were recruited to complete a rating task that simulated the ...

Language Testing, Volume 42, Issue 1, Page 124-134, January 2025.

Language Testing, Volume 42, Issue 1, Page 100-113, January 2025.
The Canadian English Language Proficiency Index Program (CELPIP) is a computer-delivered test for English language proficiency, primarily used for Canadian immigration purposes. This review begins by contextualizing the test’s use as an immigration ...

Language Testing, Volume 42, Issue 1, Page 11-47, January 2025.
Test preparation has garnered considerable attention in second language (L2) education due to the significant implications that successful performance on a language test may have for academic advancement, future career opportunities, and immigration ...

Language Testing, Volume 42, Issue 1, Page 114-123, January 2025.

Language Testing, Volume 42, Issue 1, Page 117-120, January 2025.

Language Testing, Volume 42, Issue 1, Page 120-123, January 2025.

Language Testing, Volume 42, Issue 1, Page 3-10, January 2025.

Language Testing, Ahead of Print.
This study examined the semantic features of the simulated mini-lectures in the listening sections of the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) and the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) based on automatized semantic analysis to ...

Language Testing, Ahead of Print.
English-medium universities often accept scores from various English language proficiency (ELP) tests as evidence of ELP from non-English background students. This practice raises the question of how these tests compare in terms of their ability to ...

Language Testing, Ahead of Print.
This study aimed to propose a new method for scoring C-Tests as measures of general language proficiency. In this approach, the unit of analysis is sentences rather than gaps or passages. That is, the gaps correctly reformulated in each sentence were ...

Language Testing, Ahead of Print.
Comparative Judgement (CJ) is an evaluation method, typically conducted online, whereby a rank order is constructed, and scores calculated, from judges’ pairwise comparisons of performances. CJ has been researched in various educational contexts, though ...

Language Testing, Ahead of Print.
Second language (L2) utterance fluency is crucial for speaking-proficiency assessment. The measurement of L2 utterance fluency relies heavily on silent pause identification. However, empirical studies establishing specific silent pause thresholds for L2 ...

Language Testing, Ahead of Print.
Several high-stakes English proficiency tests including but not limited to IELTS, PTE Academic, and TOEFL iBT recommend a 2-year time limit on validity for score usage. Although this timeframe provides a useful rule-of-thumb for the recency of testing, it ...

Language Testing, Ahead of Print.

Language Testing, Ahead of Print.
The growing diversity among test takers in second or foreign language (L2) assessments makes the importance of fairness front and center. This systematic review aimed to examine how fairness in L2 assessments was evaluated through differential item ...

Language Testing, Ahead of Print.
English-medium universities often accept scores from various English language proficiency (ELP) tests as evidence of ELP from non-English background students. This practice raises the question of how these tests compare in terms of their ability to predict academic achievement. This longitudinal study addresses this question by examining the strength of the associations between total scores on the IELTS Academic and the TOEFL iBT, on one hand, and the academic achievement of 6481 non-English background undergraduate students in the first 10 semesters of their study at a Canadian, English-medium university, on the other. Findings revealed that the association between ELP and academic achievement varied across ELP tests and disciplines. Furthermore, students with different IELTS scores exhibited significantly different grade point average (GPA) trajectories over time. Specifically, students with lower IELTS scores tended to exhibit a more substantial decline in GPA over the 10 semesters compared to students with higher scores who displayed less decline in GPA, suggesting greater resilience. The findings and their implications for research concerning the relationship between ELP and academic achievement over time are discussed.

Language Testing, Ahead of Print.
Second language (L2) utterance fluency is crucial for speaking-proficiency assessment. The measurement of L2 utterance fluency relies heavily on silent pause identification. However, empirical studies establishing specific silent pause thresholds for L2 monologic speaking are scarce, and even fewer exist for L2 dialogic speaking. This study thus aims to explore the optimal silent pause threshold for measuring L2 utterance fluency in both speaking contexts. Following De Jong and Bosker, the study assumes that silent pause measures calculated at optimal thresholds can best predict L2 proficiency and perceived fluency. Multiple linear regression models were conducted using four silent pause measures (mid-Analysis of Speech Unit [ASU] silent pause rate, end-ASU silent pause rate, mid-ASU silent pause duration, end-ASU silent pause duration) at various thresholds (100–1000 ms) to predict participants’ L2 proficiency and perceived fluency scores. For the monologic task, silent pause measures calculated at a threshold of 200 ms best predicted both L2 proficiency and perceived fluency scores. For the dialogic task, silent pause measures calculated at a 200-ms threshold had the best predictive power for L2 proficiency score, whereas the optimal threshold for predicting the perceived fluency score was 350 ms.

Language Testing, Ahead of Print.
Several high-stakes English proficiency tests including but not limited to IELTS, PTE Academic, and TOEFL iBT recommend a 2-year time limit on validity for score usage. Although this timeframe provides a useful rule-of-thumb for the recency of testing, it can have far-reaching consequences. In response to stakeholder queries around IELTS validity period recommendations, researchers from the British Council and Cambridge University Press & Assessment reviewed current practice and collated evidence around how this recommendation is applied and understood by test score users. Accordingly, this report systematically compares policies in five countries and two sectors (higher education and medical regulators). An analysis of policy documentation was conducted for 90 universities and 18 regulators, alongside in-depth interviews (n = 9) with UK stakeholders. Findings indicate the 2-year recommendation is overwhelmingly the norm. Interviewees saw value in the current approach, although they were often not aware that this period is recommended rather than a rule. The intention of this paper is neither to support nor to refute the 2-year recommendation but to inform decision-making and communication from test providers. A call is made for further research focusing on two key areas: the relevance and application of validity periods among practitioners, plus increased empirical insights upon which such recommended timeframes can be more robustly grounded.