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Additional information is available at the end of the article positive and dramatic influence on EFL learners' grammar achievement, although the success of learning varied across proficiency levels.

Assessment is a powerful tool which can shape curriculum, teaching and learning. One of the major topics which has been the focus of so much debate among the scholars is the concept of ethics in educational assessment systems. The purpose of this paper is to touch upon the issue of ethics in language assessment from validity perspectives. To ensure effective planning, implementation, and evaluation of learning, certain principles and guidelines for beliefs and behaviors are adopted. These principles and guidelines are identified as ethical standards. The central question to be addressed here is whether any test can be defended as ethical, or moral. This study also examines professional ethics, specifically ethical principles as they relate to educational assessment. And finally, some suggestions and guidelines will be offered for applying ethics in educational assessment to maximize validity and fair application of language test scores.

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This study sought to explore the perspectives of learners involved in the IELTS Academic Writing Module courses. In particular, the study explored learner perspectives of motivation, test-taking anxiety, testtaking strategies, and the expectations students bring to their courses. This study adopted a mixed methodology and collected data through questionnaires, observations, and interviews. A Multivariate Test for Repeated Measures was run to compare group means of this study at two various points in time with an interval of eight weeks in between. The results didn't indicate a statistically significant difference for the within-subjects variable of learners' perspectives, meaning that the learner perspectives' mean and change from one time to another was not noticeably significant. Further, classroom observations revealed that learners' perspectives toward the exams were not similar as they were both positive and negative, indicating that their views and practices differed. In addition, the interview demonstrated that every learner, to varying degrees, reported focusing on different tasks and activities that were included in the tests with varying behavioral patterns and perspectives, indicating a complex relationship between exams and learners' perspectives. However, Analysis of Covariance revealed significant effects for IELTS Writing Preparation course and the learners' improvements in their Writing scores. Language Testing in AsiaVolume two, Issue one February 20126 | P a g e