The performance decision tree (PDT; Fulcher et al., 2011) is a rubric style that is applicable to performance assessment, with origins in Upshur and Turner's (1995) empirically derived binary-choice, boundary-definition (EBB) scale. It is easier for raters to assess performance by evaluating multiple binary-choice descriptors. Additionally,…

Addressing the lack of English tests that measure critical thinking (CT) abilities of EFL learners, this study aims to develop an English Critical Thinking Test (ECTT) designed to measure the consistency, analysis, and inference CT skills. It is a follow-up to a pilot study to accumulate validity evidence for the use of the ECTT. A total of 262…

The purpose of this study is to equate and further validate three forms of the vocabulary size test (VST) created by Aizawa and Mochizuki (2010). These three forms, VST 1, 2, and 3, were administered to a cohort of 189 high school students ranging in age from 16 to 18 in April of their 1st, 2nd, and 3rd year of high school. Although these…

Background: Research on the test-taker perception of assessments has been conducted under the assumption that negative test-taker perception may influence test performance by decreasing test-taking motivation. This assumption, however, has not been verified in the field of language testing. Building on expectancy-value theory, this study explored…

Placement testing is a crucial issue in Japanese universities. In the majority of language programs, classes are streamed by proficiency levels based on students' placement test score for efficient instruction because university students' proficiency levels vary greatly even in the same program. The Visualizing English Language Competency Test®…

Background: The Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) developed by Council of Europe has been gaining popularity since its publication in 2001, and reshaping the practice in language teaching, learning and assessment not only across the European continent but also in many other places such as Japan (CEFR-J project). Some pioneering work…

Standardized testing is ubiquitous in Japan. Inexpensive and easily mass distributed, their use has been encouraged at every level of the education system. Over the past thirty years, external testing agencies have been increasingly relied upon to make standardized tests for use as benchmarks in the education system and in the private sector.…

Background: While numerous articles on Criterion® have been published and its validity evidence has accumulated, test users need to obtain relevant validity evidence for their local context and develop their own validity argument. This paper aims to provide validity evidence for the interpretation and use of Criterion® for assessing second…

Background: This study examined the factor structure of the Test of English for Academic Purposes (TEAP®) test--a recently developed academic English test measuring four skills among Japanese university applicants--and compared the structure to that of the Test of English as a Foreign Language Internet-based test (TOEFL iBT®), to investigate the…