Michael Goodine's Blog, page 8

Scenario-Based Language Assessment

Here’s a video from Soo Hyoung Joo from Columbia University about her work on scenario-based language assessment.  It describes how an AI character can help test takers deal with a scenario (about physics, in the example case).  The performance and collaboration of the test takers can then be observed and assessed. How long, I wonder, […]

On Transparency in Testing

There is an excellent article in the Review of Education by Nathaniel Owen and Ananda Senel about enhancing transparency in high stakes English tests. I encourage everyone to check out the whole thing, but I want to jump to the end of the article, which includes a few recommendations for test makers. I’ll paraphrase them […]

English Tests and Foreign Currency Loss

A new article from Vientnam.vn touches on the issue of “foreign currency loss” stemming from widespread use of international English tests for domestic university admissions in Vietnam.  It estimates that in 2025 over 300,000 IELTS tests will be taken in that country.  Each administration of the IELTS costs VND4,664,000 (about $177 USD), the majority of […]

Connecting English Scores to Academic Outcomes?

Some readers might be interested in an article by Maggie McGehee and Daniel Isbell which will appear in a future installment of “Studies in Language Testing.”  It examines the relationship between English test (DET, TOEFL, IELTS) scores and academic outcomes at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa (UHM).  According to the article, “mean GPAs and […]

Office Hours 4.0: The State of the Tests

I’ve penciled in an “Office Hours” session for August 22. You can register here. This one won’t have a primary focus. Instead, participants can chat about whatever they find interesting from the world of English testing. Possible topics include changes in Australia, HOELT delays and the new TOEFL. This one will be a bit of […]

TOEFL Essentials Recognized by IRCC

The TOEFL Essentials Test is now recognized by IRCC (Canada). They aren’t currently accepting TOEFL Essentials scores, but it looks like they will be quite soon. Big win for ETS to finally get that recognition.  Says IRCC: This test isn’t currently accepted by IRCC. This page will be updated once we start accepting it. I’m […]

THE on China Trends

Interesting article in Times Higher Education this morning by Sabrina Y. Wang, who is involved in test preparation in China.  She notes: “June and July used to be the beginning of the busiest time of the year, leading up to the IELTS and TOEFL exam season from September to December, as students submit their applications […]

Latest Substack

Here’s my latest roundup of news from the world of English testing on substack. Regular readers already know that the substack collects items previously published here and on LinkedIn. While compiling this issue I noticed that I’ve produced quite a few opinion pieces in recent weeks. I left them out of the newsletter, but will […]

Pearson H1 Interim Results, 2025

I missed Pearson’s interim results, which were published August 1. They reported that PTE Volumes were down in H1 by about 10% compared to H1 of last year. That likely represents a total of about 491,000 tests for H1 2025. Volumes of all the big tests are down this year, which is not a surprise. […]

Duolingo Q2 2025 Report

Duolingo’s Q2 results for 2025 were published a few days ago. The Duolingo English Test had revenues of $10,088,000 for the quarter. Since the test costs $70, we might estimate that it was taken about 144,114 times in the quarter. But this is a very rough estimate because not everyone pays $70. Some pay extra […]