Michael Goodine's Blog, page 4

THE on Tests

Times Higher Education published a long article by Helen Packer about English testing for higher education in the UK. It is pretty evenhanded, inasmuch as everyone gets a chance to say their piece. Even the TOEFL program got a few words in. I liked it.

Duolingo English Test Adds Room Scan

I saw in this Youtube video that the Duolingo English Test now requires a room scan.  The required scan is a 360 degree motion (with a phone) akin to British Council’s EnglishScore test, plus a look at the space behind the computer. I’ve never been a fan of room scans.  I find them cumbersome and […]

Gateway English Test

Anyone here know about the Gateway English Test from English3? It has been on my “to take” list for a little while. It seems to have assembled an interesting bunch of accepting schools. I saw that Ute Knoch and John H.A.L. DeJong and Mark Reckase (and others) were on their founding advisory board.

University of Cambridge Rejects Revised TOEFL

The University of Cambridge (undergraduate) will not accept scores from TOEFL tests taken after December 31, 2025. According to the university’s website: “changes to TOEFL Internet Based Test and Home Edition in January 2026 mean that it will no longer be suitable for entry to Cambridge” Regular readers know that the TOEFL iBT will be […]

Test Comparison: TOEFL vs Duolingo English Test

The ETS Research Institute has published a new study which compares the TOEFL iBT and Duolingo English Test (DET).  It is dated April 2025 but is new to me and it appears to be new to the Internet.  The study was carried out by Sara Cushing of Georgia State University. Curiously, this study compares the […]

Duolingo English Test Video

Apropos of various things, the Duolingo English Test team has published a charming new video highlighting their mission of “transforming testing for good.” It features Duolingo co-founder Luis von Ahn and others. I was happy to see DET creator Burr Settles make an appearance. Duolingo is really good at this sort of thing. And it […]

TOEFL Essentials Examined for Australia

The Educational Testing Service funded a three-year study at the University of Melbourne “to examine the relevance of the task types of the new TOEFL Essentials test to migration to Australia.” When I shared this on LinkedIn, people express dismay that the person who did the study is the same person who appears to decide […]

Widescale IELTS Cheating in Bangladesh

The Daily Sun (Bangladesh) has published a long article on IELTS exam leaks and organized cheating. I’ll post a link in the comments. According to their report, two suspects have been arrested in Dhaka for their part in a cheating ring.  The Sun reports that the suspects used leaked IELTS tests to prepare students for […]

Office Hours 5: SE Asia Focus

Office Hours #5 will focus on the testing (and test prep) scene in Southeast Asia. I’ve arranged for short interviews (10-15 minutes) with experts based in Vietnam and Indonesia.  Regular readers know that Vietnam is one of the fastest growing markets for English tests, and that student recruiters think of Indonesia as their next big […]

Official TOEFL AI Platform

It is worth taking a moment to peer at the Official TOEFL AI Learning platform recently launched by ETS in China.  It looks like TOEFL TestReady on steroids, and should be considered a pretty big deal. Test takers have spotted advertisements for it at the big TOEFL test center in Shanghai.  I’ll post a picture […]