The search for fairness in language testing is distinct from other areas of educational measurement as the object of measurement, that is, language, is part of the identity of the test takers. So, a host of issues enter the scene when one starts to reflect on how to assess people's language abilities. As the quest for fairness in language testing…

With the rising concerns over the fairness of language tests, Differential Item Functioning (DIF) has been increasingly applied in bias analysis. Despite its widespread use in psychometric circles, DIF is facing a number of serious problems. This paper is an attempt to shed light on a number of the issues involved in DIF analysis. Specifically,…

There has been a growing consensus among the educational measurement experts and psychometricians that test taker characteristics may unduly affect the performance on tests. This may lead to construct-irrelevant variance in the scores and thus render the test biased. Hence, it is incumbent on test developers and users alike to provide evidence…