This research paper delved into the critical issue of applying English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) assessment principles in local English language tests used for non-native English speakers in Iranian language institutes. A qualitative content analysis was made on 60 local tests, dissecting them into domains, dimensions, and rating rubrics to…

This study aimed to compare reading strategies and habits regarding reading achievement of selected age-group participants from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2009 and the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) 2015 within Turkey. A cohort design was utilized because it was assumed that reading literacy…

Two experiments investigated the extent to which the concreteness of titles affects metacognitive text expectations, study motivation, and comprehension test performance. Sixty-three American and 61 German students were presented with three titles (either concrete or abstract), based upon which the students estimated their expected…

Large-scale standardized tests are regularly used to measure student achievement overall and for student subgroups. These uses assume tests provide comparable measures of outcomes across student subgroups, but prior research suggests score comparisons across gender groups may be complicated by the type of test items used. This paper presents…

The present study investigated the impact of chunk reading training (CRT) on the online syntactic processing and verbal working memory (WM) of Japanese EFL (English as a foreign language) learners in secondary school. For four weeks, the treatment group (N = 31) underwent CRT, while the control group (N = 25) participated in reading training in…

While previous research has provided insights into vocabulary learning through extensive reading, the differential effects of word frequency and word class on active form and passive meaning word recognition remain less understood. By evaluating learners' post-test performance in active form recognition and passive meaning recognition, this study…

Given the significant global influence of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Teaching, Learning, and Assessment (CEFR) on English language education, this study deals with aligning a university's academic reading tests to the CEFR. It aimed at validating the test construct of the academic reading tests in relation to the…

Background: As technology continues to advance, language acquisition methodologies have increasingly been integrated into computer-assisted language learning (CALL) systems. In the context of Chinese language acquisition, characters are structured in three phases: the overall character, its components, and its strokes. Proficiency in identifying…

One shared goal of classroom instruction is to support students' reading competence as a key skill of school success and participation in daily life. Yet, teaching that addresses multilingual students' language-related resources to support reading is rare. In this study, we enriched reciprocal teaching with elements of linguistically responsive…

This paper presents the findings of a study that intended to seek the content validity (CV) evidence of an instrument to measure the reading ability of university students in Sri Lanka. The reading passages and items were adapted from CEFR aligned Learning Resource Network (LRN) materials. The items were designed based on the cognitive processing…

The school closures owing to the 2020 COVID-19 crisis resulted in a significant disruption of education provision, leading to fears of learning losses and of an increase in educational inequality. This article evaluates the effects of school closures based on standardised tests in the last year of primary school in the Dutch-speaking Flemish…

Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) focuses on the reading proficiency of students mostly in the fourth year of schooling. A wide selection of studies has shown that family background and early literacy activities at home have substantial associations with student achievement in reading literacy. However, research focusing on…

Being overconfident in one's abilities is connected to poor self-judgment and it is essential to find ways how to reduce this phenomenon. The aim of the study was to research whether the act of taking a reading literacy test can be an effective means of reducing the overconfidence effect in the sample of Slovak teachers. Using purposive sampling…

Modern large-scale studies such as the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) do not only report reading competence of students on a global reading scale but also report reading on the level of reading subskills. However, the number of and the dependencies between the subskills are frequently discussed. In this study, different…

This study examined the longitudinal relationship between early handwriting skills and the growth of spelling and reading skills in a large sample (N = 569) of 5- to 6-year-old children unselected for ability. The quality of children's handwriting was assessed using five indicators (letter form, slant, rhythm, ability, general appearance).…