This study aims to investigate if learners of English can improve computer-assisted writing skills through the analysis of the data from the post test. In this study, the focus was given to intermediate-level students of English taking final writing tests (integrated and independent responses) in preparation for TOEFL iBT. We manually scored and categorized the students’ writing responses into ...

This paper presents a novel method for automatically generating English vocabulary tests using TOEFL vocabulary questions as a model. English vocabulary questions in TOEFL is a multiple-choice question consisting of four components: a target word, a reading passage, a correct answer and distractors. Given a target word, we generate a reading passage from Web texts retrieved from the Internet, a...

Japan is faced with an imminent challenge of cultivating ‘global human resources’, as the whole society delves into the global information society. The Course of Study defined by the Ministry of Education, Culture, and Sports and Technology (MEXT) of the Japanese government has emphasized communicative competence and / or ‘communication skills’ as a focus of the foreign language subjects (e.g.,...

Conventionally, the questions on a test are assumed to be kept secret from test takers until the test. However, for tests that are taken on a large scale, particularly asynchronously, this is very hard to achieve. For example, example TOEFL iBT and driver’s license test questions are easily found online. This also appears likely to become an issue for Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). In thi...