This paper overviews English language assessment-related articles published in English Teaching from 1965 to 2015. One hundred thirty-eight articles are chosen for analysis, and the discernible trends epitomizing a specific era are traced. The results show articles concerning item analysis and improvement oftesting methods constituted a major portion of the periodical in the early days. The number of the assessmentrelated articles began to soar from the late 1980s, and recently a major focus seems to have shifted to test validity. In terms of research topics, a significant body of research has been conducted on item analysis, improvement of testing practices, performance assessment, evaluation methods, and test validity. Even though the overall level of the articles has advanced dramatically over the past 50 years, little research has been intended in the areas of classroom assessment, English language testing policies, washback effects, new assessment tools, and the validity of national tests. This paper concludes with a suggestion that more efforts should be made to fill the gap between research and testing practices in the field.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of vocabulary learning activity types via smart-phones on vocabulary learning and the attitude of Korean college students. The participants were 56 college students, who were divided into 4 groups: a competitive and self-paced group (Group 1), a competitive and controlled-paced group (Group 2), an individual and self-paced group (Group 3), and an individual and controlled-paced group (Group 4). Vocabulary tests were administered before and after the experiment. The analyses of the post-test results showed that Group 3 had improved most and Group 1 earned the second highest score, indicating that competition can make a positive effect on vocabulary learning via smart-phone applications. The results also revealed that there was no statistically significant difference in the post-test scores between self-paced and controlled-paced groups. In addition, vocabulary learning via smart-phone applications improved the participants’ attitudes toward vocabulary learning.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of information transferring activity on listening comprehension and the affective domains of high school students. A total of 140 students participated in this study, and they were divided into two groups: The control group taught to follow traditional listening instruction, and the experimental group taught to transfer information in listening text to visual materials. The results showed that there was a statistically significant difference in understanding aural texts between the two groups, indicating the positive effects of the use of information transfer technique on listening comprehension. In addition, short-answer and multiple choice techniques produced different results, suggesting a significant test method effect on test results. Lastly, the participants provided generally positive responses to the usefulness of information transfer technique.

The purpose of this study was to investigate to what extent Korean college students can acquire vocabulary from reading course materials. The participants were 32 college students who enrolled in a TEFL methodology course. A vocabulary test was administered at the beginning and the end of the course, and the results showed that the participants were able to recognize meanings of an average of 3.6 new words, suggesting that small but significant amounts of incidental vocabulary learning can occur as a result of reading course materials. The findings also showed that there was a statistically significant relationship between the number of times each word occurred and its relative learning gain. The results of this study suggests that incidental vocabulary learning is possible from reading even though the amount of such learning is not large. Implications for vocabulary learning and teaching are discussed.

This study examined composing processes of six graduate ESL writers in timed essay situations. The participants’ composing behaviors were videotaped and they were asked to retrospect their composing processes after they completed their timed essays while watching the video of themselves composing. The stimulus recall data were transcribed and analyzed using coding schemes. The analyses of the participants’ composing processes show that they were not able to go through composing steps they normally do in drafted writing situations. Instead they were forced to go through a linear composing process and were not able to enjoy heuristic discovery. The findings of this study support the claim that timed essay is a special form of writing and that essay exams do not necessarily produce a representative sample of test takers' writing ability in target language use domains.

This paper examined the usefulness of widely used foreign language tests in Korea, focusing on their purposes. The analyses of secondary data showed that the tests are used for purposes for which they have not been validated, which call into question the appropriateness of interpretations test users make of test scores. The results also indicated that the reliability of test scores could be undermined because of test security violations. Finally, the lack of correspondence of test tasks and real life tasks also question the meaningfulness of the interpretations that test users make on the basis of test scores. Even though the present study was only exploratory in nature, its findings are hoped to contribute to an understanding of the usefulness of language tests for a given purpose.

Even though performance-based language tests are often multivariate by design, previous validation studies have analyzed the dependability of ratings of such tests within univariate analytic frameworks. In an attempt to address this limitation, the present study investigated the dependability of judgements made based on ratings of a German speaking test using a multivariate generalizabilitiy theory (MGT) analysis. Data obtained from 88 students were analyzed in G- and D-studies of a two-facet crossed design. A D-study with two raters and two tasks supported the high dependability of the ratings and the placement decisions made at the pre-determined cut scores. An optimization analysis of the measurement procedure suggested that the desired level of dependability of ratings has already been achieved by the use of two raters and two tasks. The MGT analysis also generated other useful information about the convergent/ discriminant validity of the five subscales. Specifically, the universe score variance-covariance matrix obtained from the D-study showed that the underlying subscales were interrelated but distinct. Furthermore, the analysis of effective weights of the scales revealed that the Grammar subscale played the dominant role in the composite universe score variance.