In this article, the author reviews the TOEFL iBT which is the latest version of the TOEFL, whose history stretches back to 1961. The TOEFL iBT was introduced in the USA, Canada, France, Germany and Italy in late 2005. Currently the TOEFL test is offered in two testing formats: (1) Internet-based testing (iBT); and (2) paper-based testing (PBT).…

The purpose of BEST Plus is to assess the ability to understand and use unprepared, conversational, everyday language within topic areas generally covered in adult education courses. It is one of several standardized assessments approved by the National Reporting System (NRS, 2008), which is the accountability system for federally funded ESL and…

The assessment of oral language is now quite commonly done in pairs or groups, and there is a growing body of research which investigates the related issues (e.g. May, 2007). Writing generally tends to be thought of as an individual activity, although a small number of studies have documented the advantages of collaboration in writing in the…

This article reports the results of a research study to determine the washback effect of an oral assessment system on some areas of the teaching and learning of English as a Foreign Language (EFL). The research combined quantitative and qualitative research methods within a comparative study between an experimental group and a comparison group.…

Speaking tasks involving peer-to-peer candidate interaction are increasingly being incorporated into language proficiency assessments, in both large-scale international testing contexts, and in smaller-scale, for example course-related, ones. This growth in the popularity and use of paired and group orals has stimulated research, particularly into…

This study, framed within sociocultural theory, examines the interaction of adult ESL test-takers in two tests of oral proficiency: one in which they interacted with an examiner (the individual format) and one in which they interacted with another student (the paired format). The data for the eight pairs in this study were drawn from a larger…

Speech act theory-based, second language pragmatics testing (SLPT) poses problems for validation due to a lack of correspondence with empirical conversational data. Since conversation analysis (CA) provides a richer and more accurate account of language behavior, it may be preferred as a basis for SLPT development. However, applying CA methodology…

This study examined the effects of training on peer assessment and comments provided regarding oral presentations in EFL (English as a Foreign Language) classrooms. In Study 1, both the treatment and control groups received instruction on skill aspects, but only the treatment group was given an additional 40-minute training on how to rate…

A multitask speaking measure consisting of both integrated and independent tasks is expected to be an important component of a new version of the TOEFL test. This study considered two critical issues concerning score dependability of the new speaking measure: How much would the score dependability be impacted by (1) combining scores on different…

Reviews assumptions underlying approaches to research into speaking task difficulty and questions the view that test scores always vary with task conditions or discourse variation. Offers a new approach to defining task difficulty in terms of the interaction between pragmatic task features and first language cultural background. Results of a study…

Analyzes linguistically "naive" native Spanish speakers' evaluations of American students' performance on oral Spanish interviews. Results found considerable divergence in how evaluators viewed particular candidates' proficiency, although evaluators were consistently more strict in their evaluations than was a trained rater. (Author/CB)

This article presents the goals, design, and pilot-testing results of a new oral interview procedure for eliciting a representative sample of spontaneous Japanese language abilities from children aged 5 through 10. Pilot results show that the procedure elicits a language sample that is superior in quality and quantity to other existing Japanese…

Suggests that performance tests as currently represented in the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL)-Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) may not adequately address the basic concerns brought about by the perceived shortcomings of academic second language programs. Supports this argument with a critical analysis of the ACTFL…

Presents a qualitative analysis of one aspect of interviewer-candidate interaction, i.e., the types of linguistic and interfactional support that the native speaker interlocutor provides to the nonnative speaker candidate in a one-on-one interview. Results indicate there are eight types of interlocutor support, a positive finding. (63 references)…

Investigates differential item functioning (DIF) across two different broad language groupings, Asian and European, in a speaking test in which the test takers' responses were rated polytomously. Data were collected from 1038 nonnative speakers of English from France, Hong Kong, Japan, Spain, Switzerland, and Thailand who took the SPEAK test in…