Foreign language testing is a multi-dimensional phenomenon and obtaining objective and error-free scores on learners' language skills is often problematic. While assessing foreign language performance on high-stakes tests, using different testing approaches including Classical Test Theory (CTT), Generalizability Theory (GT) and/or Item Response…

Foreign language aptitude is defined as one's potential to learn a second language. A language learner with higher aptitude is predicted to learn more, faster, and reach a higher level of proficiency. If this is the case, one way to validate the construct of aptitude and its measure is to conduct a validation study in which measures of aptitude is…

Purpose: This study examined the quality of English test items using psychometric and linguistic characteristics among Grade Six pupils. Method: Contrary to the conventional approach of relying only on statistics when investigating item quality, this study adopted a mixed-method approach by employing psychometric analysis and cognitive interviews.…

Concepts of second language proficiency and how proficiency may be assessed have changed considerably over the last 20 years. New notions of validity with respect to the interpretation and uses of test scores have begun to shape discussions about test validity and quality assurance in college world language departments, in government, and in…

This article provides preliminary validity evidence for the shorter Mandarin version of the Vocabulary Size Test (VST) under the content aspect, technical quality, substantive and generalizability aspect of Messick's (1995) construct validity framework. The shorter version with 177 Chinese university students in three proficiency levels indicates…

In spite of new methodologies in foreign language instruction, much testing is still of the traditional type. Paper and pencil tests are given, testing in exactly the same way the teachers themselves were tested. This article suggests 25 points for language teachers on all levels. (Author/PJM)

Presents a rationale, description, and partial construct validation of a new theory of foreign language aptitude: CANAL-F--Cognitive Ability for Novelty in Acquisition of Language (foreign). The theory was applied and implemented in a test of foreign language aptitude (CANAL-FT). Outlines the CANAL-F theory and details of its instrumentation…

Explores the term "applied linguistics" and discusses the role of language testing within this discipline, the relationship between testing and teaching, and the relationship between testing and assessment (Author/VWL)

The one-parameter psychometric model known as the Rasch model is described and examined. The basic principles underlying the model and the concepts of unidimensionality, local stochastic independence, and additivity are explained in non-mathematical terms. The requirements of measurement procedures, the measurement of latent traits, the control on…

Reviews developments in language testing research and practice over the last 20 years, and suggests future directions in the areas of professionalizing the field and validation research. Argues that concerns for ethical conduct must be grounded in valid test use, so that professionalization and validation research are inseparable. (Author/VWL)

A study compared the results of administration of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages/Educational Testing Service (ACTFL/ETS) oral proficiency interview and those of two laboratory-administered Modern Language Association tests, one in the listening mode and one in the speaking mode. The comparative study was undertaken to…

A study supplementing earlier research by Lalande and Schweckendiek investigated comparisons and correlations obtained from testing a group of 17 university students of German using both the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) and the most recent revision of the examination for the…

A study attempted to estimate the instructional sensitivity of items in three reading comprehension tests in English as a second language (ESL). Instructional sensitivity is a test-item construct defined as the tendency for a test item to vary in difficulty as a function of instruction. Similar tasks were given to readers at different proficiency…

This guide has the broad purpose of improving large-scale academic assessments for limited-English-proficient (LEP) students. It was written because large-scale assessments are studded with problems that affect not only how equitable the achievement of LEP students can be measured, but also how effectively LEP students' mastery of content is…

Criterion-referenced testing was used to complement norm-referenced procedures in a revision of a university's English-as-a-Second-Language placement test for reading. Test validation results indicated that the revised test better matched the university's program and included more items related to the content and skills that students were…