Computer based testing has become a prevailing tendency in education. Each year, a large number of students take online language tests everywhere in the world. In fact, there is a tendency to make these tests more and more used due to their low cost of delivery. However, many students are forced to take them despite their interests, feelings and…

Despite the increasing importance of language testing, technology design matters related to testing have hardly been addressed in academic research, yet not enough has been written on test-taking anxiety related to computerized speaking tests. Although students nowadays are digital natives, in our experience they seem to experience a significant…

Spain is currently living a transitional situation. In 2013 a new educational law was passed, the Organic Law that Modifies the Quality of Education (LOMCE). That law, among many other aspects, introduces the use of standardized external tests either to (1) guide or provide suggestions for the educational track, or (2) to obtain inferences towards…

This paper discusses the results of a study conducted with 218 students in the final year of high school to determine their opinions about the feasibility of using a tablet PC for delivery of a standardized English language test. One such test could be the English paper of the exam given to students upon completion of the Baccalaureate program in…

Over the few years, computer based language testing has become prevailing worldwide. The number of institutions the use computers as the main means of delivery has increased dramatically. Many students face each day tests for well-known high-stakes decisions which imply the knowledge and ability to use technology to provide evidence of language…

Testing is an issue of increasing importance. While for many teachers language learning should be communicative; in fact, they expect their students to provide evidence of their knowledge. Thus, there is a clear mismatch on the approach to language teaching and language testing. As a consequence, there is an evident need change the testing…

Problem Statement: One of the most frequently neglected aspects of testing is teachers' attitudes. Overall, in-service teachers may have a preconception of what testing means and what its implications are both in high and low stakes testing. However, very few studies have addressed the realities or opinions of pre-service teachers. Methods: Two…

Assessing speaking is one of the most difficult tasks in computer based language testing. Many countries all over the world face the need to implement standardized language tests where speaking tasks are commonly included. However, a number of problems make them rather impractical such as the costs, the personnel involved, the length of time for…

This research addresses the change in how the Spanish University Entrance Examination can be delivered in the future. There is a wide acknowledgement that computer tests are very demanding for the delivering institutions which makes computer language testing difficult to implement. However, the use of tablet PCs can facilitate the delivery at even…

Ubiquitous language learning and testing has become a new challenging trend. Budget constraints in Europe and the rest of the world have made this way of delivery very attractive for materials designers as well as language testing organizations. Ubiquitous testing has a very especial interest in low and medium stakes language testing in which…

Designing tests is a sophisticated task due to issues such as rubrics, validation and impact. Delivery has become another key issue in recent years. Recent research projects in Spain (García Laborda et al.s, 2010, García Laborda, 2012; García Laborda et al., 2014; Bueno Alastuey et al., 2014) have been working mainly with technological devices as…

The debate over the Foreign Language Test (English) in the University Entrance Examination (PAU) has become a critical issue in the Spanish Educational system. Despite the Ministry of Education's interest in changing a test that has its strong emphasis on reading, writing and grammar but a general negligence towards listening and speaking, limited…

Since the Spanish Educational system is changing and promoting the use of online tests, it was necessary to study the transformation of test items in the "Spanish University Entrance Examination" (IB P.A.U.) to diminish the effect of test delivery changes (through its computerization) in order to affect the least the current model. The…

Although there is an increasing number of online tests in the world, little research is currently known in Spain today. Assessment has become an integral part of education and the implications of the various uses of language testing go beyond the educational settings (Douglas, 2010; Fulcher, 2010). This study describes the PAULEX project. This…

Language testing is a relatively new field of interest that has become of common interest in the last twenty years not only for traditional purposes but because of the power that language testing has acquired in relation to immigration and also for its implications for educational reforms. The purpose of this paper is to provide a theoretical…