This replication study sought to compare the academic achievement of undergraduate students with different score profiles on the TOEFL iBT. Two-step cluster analysis of TOEFL iBT section scores identified six clusters among 2,347 undergraduate students who met the required cutscore on the TOEFL iBT for admission to a Canadian English-medium…

Despite the increased use of integrated tasks in high-stakes academic writing assessment, research on rating criteria which reflect the unique construct of integrated summary writing skills is comparatively rare. Using a mixed-method approach of expert judgement, text analysis, and statistical analysis, this study examines writing features that…

The current quasi-experimental study investigated the effect of metacognitive reading strategies on the reading comprehension and attitudes of Omani EFL foundation-level students. The sample of the study included two intact classes (N=45) and was selected based on the students' results in the midterm reading comprehension exam and their responses…

The present article addressed the issue of university teachers' working experience in the field of class-oriented online teaching English in higher educational institutions. The central aim of this study was a detailed description of the system for assessing reading skills utilized in English proficiency tests (CAE (C1), TOEFL, IELTS), as well as…

The difficulties with developing high-order reading comprehension skills negatively impact academic success across fields. The current study investigated whether the text structure strategy instruction, delivered through the Intelligent Tutoring of Structure Strategy (ITSS) to adult English learners as a foreign language (EFL), can improve reading…

The current study aims to explore the cognitive validity of the iBT TOEFL reading test by investigating test takers' eye movements on individual items. It is assumed that successful test takers would adopt the intended reading processes, the same types and levels of cognitive processes that they would use for real-world reading tasks. Forty-seven…

Score interchangeability of Computerized Fixed-Length Linear Testing (henceforth CFLT) and Paper-and-Pencil-Based Testing (henceforth PPBT) has become a controversial issue over the last decade when technology has meaningfully restructured methods of the educational assessment. Given this controversy, various testing guidelines published on…

This research investigated the relationship between reading maturity, reading strategy use, and gender with Iranian EFL undergraduates' reading comprehension. The results revealed that the most preferred strategies were cognitive in nature. Moreover, the Iranian EFL undergraduates were intellectually enriched by most of what they read and enjoy…

This research compared the contributions of lexical inferencing, decoding, and listening comprehension to reading comprehension in Chinese-speaking learners of English as a second language (ESL) enrolled in university bridging programs in the U.S. and Chinese-speaking university learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) in mainland China.…

Background: This study aims to empirically answer the question of whether the role of sub-reading skills changes depending on the test format (e.g., multiple-choice vs. open-ended reading questions). The test format effect also addresses the issue of test validity--whether the reading test properly elicits construct-relevant reading skills or…

This project examined academic reading in two contrasting English as a medium of instruction (EMI) university settings in Nepal and Sweden and the unique challenges facing students who are studying in a language other than their primary language. The motivation for the project was to explore the role of high-stakes testing in EMI contexts and the…

This study examines the effects of an electronic reading environment's structure on second language (L2) reading comprehension. In particular, this study explores whether clarifying the underlying structure of an electronic text, along with the ways in which its units or nodes are organized and interrelated results in better comprehension as well…

In this study the magnitudes of local dependence generated by cloze test items and reading comprehension items were compared and their impact on parameter estimates and test precision was investigated. An advanced English as a foreign language reading comprehension test containing three reading passages and a cloze test was analyzed with a…

This study examines the predictive validity of the TOEFL iBT with respect to academic achievement as measured by the first-year grade point average (GPA) of Chinese students at Purdue University, a large, public, Research I institution in Indiana, USA. Correlations between GPA, TOEFL iBT total and subsection scores were examined on 1990 mainland…

Reading in FL possesses certain challenges for FL readers such as difficulty in inferring underlying messages in texts and dealing with unfamiliar cultural load. All these challenges may be associated with FL learners' reading proficiency and their use of FL reading strategies especially while reading academic materials. This study aims at…