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Examining the Predictive Validity of the Duolingo English Test: Evidence from a Major UK University
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Isaacs, Talia; Hu, Ruolin; Trenkic, Danijela; Varga, Julia – Language Testing, 2023
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the university admissions and proficiency testing landscape. One change has been the meteoric rise in use of the fully automated Duolingo English Test (DET) for university entrance purposes, offering test-takers a cheaper, shorter, accessible alternative. This rapid response study is the first to investigate the…
Descriptors: Predictive Validity, Educational Technology, Handheld Devices, Language Tests
What the Analytic versus Holistic Scoring of International Teaching Assistants Can Reveal: Lexical Grammar Matters
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Ma, Wenyue – Language Testing, 2022
Second-language (L2) testing researchers have explored the relationship between speakers' overall speaking ability, reflected by holistic scores, and the speakers' performance on speaking subcomponents, reflected by analytic scores (e.g., McNamara, 1990; Sato, 2011). These research studies have advanced applied linguists' understanding of how…
Descriptors: Language Tests, Teaching Assistants, Second Language Learning, Second Language Instruction
Examining the Effects of Different English Speech Varieties on an L2 Academic Listening Comprehension Test at the Item Level
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Shin, Sun-Young; Lee, Senyung; Lidster, Ryan – Language Testing, 2021
In this study we investigated the potential for a shared-first-language (shared-L1) effect on second language (L2) listening test scores using differential item functioning (DIF) analyses. We did this in order to understand how accented speech may influence performance at the item level, while controlling for key variables including listening…
Descriptors: Listening Comprehension Tests, Language Tests, Native Language, Scores
Empirical Profiles of Academic Oral English Proficiency from an International Teaching Assistant Screening Test
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Choi, Ikkyu – Language Testing, 2017
Language proficiency constitutes a crucial barrier for prospective international teaching assistants (ITAs). Many US universities administer screening tests to ensure that ITAs possess the required academic oral English proficiency for their TA duties. Such ITA screening tests often elicit a sample of spoken English, which is evaluated in terms of…
Descriptors: Oral English, Academic Discourse, Language Proficiency, Screening Tests
Factor Analysis for Fairness: Examining the Impact of Task Type and Examinee L1 Background on Scores of an ITA Speaking Test
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Yan, Xun; Cheng, Lixia; Ginther, April – Language Testing, 2019
This study investigated the construct validity of a local speaking test for international teaching assistants (ITAs) from a fairness perspective, by employing a multi-group confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to examine the impact of task type and examinee first language (L1) background on the internal structure of the test. The test consists of…
Descriptors: Scores, Language Tests, Teaching Assistants, Culture Fair Tests
Student Major Field and Text Content: Interactive Effects on Reading Comprehension in the Test of English as a Foreign Language.
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Hale, Gordon A. – Language Testing, 1988
Analysis of TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) scores for 32,467 graduate school applicants, all nonnative speakers of English, revealed that students in the two key major-field groups, humanities/social sciences and biological/physical sciences, performed better on reading passages related to their own groups than on other passages.…
Descriptors: Content Validity, English for Academic Purposes, Foreign Students, Graduate Students