Technology in testing: the present and the future.

As developments in information technology have moved apace, and both hardware and software have become more powerful and cheaper, the long-prophesied use of IT for language testing is finally coming about. The Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) is mounted on computer. CD ROM-based versions of University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate tests are available, and the Internet is beginning to be used to deliver language tests. This paper reviews the advantages and disadvantages of computer-based language tests, explores in detail developments in Internet-based testing using the examples of TOEFL and DIALANG — an innovative on-line suite of diagnostic tests and self-assessment procedures in 14 European languages — and outlines a research agenda for the next decade