Language testers have generally come to recognize the limitations of traditional statistical methods for validating oral language tests. They have begun to consider more innovative approaches to test validation, approaches that promise to illuminate the assessment process itself, rather than just assessment outcomes (i.e., ratings). One such approach is conversation analysis (or CA), a rigorous empirical methodology developed by sociologists, which employs inductive methods in order to discover and describe the recurrent, systematic properties of conversation, including sequential...

This volume contains a selection of research papers that were presented at the 15th Annual Language Testing Research Colloquium (LTRC) on the themes of performance testing, and on aspects of communication in relation to cognition and assessment. This edited collection includes contributions reporting research into the testing of speaking and writing, especially in relation to raters, tasks and assessment criteria, contributions exploring the application of various statistical methods in langauge test validation and contributions addressing the issues relating to langauge testing in specific...

The volume offers an explanatory account of the progress of academic language proficiency testing in the UK (and later Australia), from the British Council's English Proficiency Test Battery (EPTB), through the revolutionary English Language Testing Service (ELTS) to the present solution of IELTS. The three stages of academic language testing in the UK over the last 50 years move from grammar through real life to features of language use. At the same time, comparison of predictive validities suggests that all three measures account for very similar shares of the variance (about 10%) and that...

The Equivalence of Direct and Semi-Direct Speaking Tests documents a comparability study of direct (face-to-face) and semi-direct (language laboratory) versions of the speaking component of the access test: an English language test designed in the 1990s as part of the selection process for immigration to Australia. In the study the issue of test equivalence is explored using a range of quantitative and qualitative evidence including test scores, test taker language output and feedback from various 'players' in the test process including members of the development team, test candidates,...

Language testers are increasingly directing their attention to the development of computer-adaptive testing (CAT) instruments for assessing learners' second language ability. Issues in Computer-Adaptive Testing of Reading Proficiency examines CAT instruments used to assess the receptive skills, with a strong focus on reading ability, as well as a critical discussion of CAT practices from the point of view of performance assessment. This volume is the first to adopt a multi-disciplinary approach and is written by leading scholars in their respective fields. The chapters are grouped into three...

Fairness of language tests and testing practices has always been a concern among test developers and test users. In the past decade educational and language assessment researchers have begun to focus directly on fairness and related matters such as test standards, test bias and equity and ethics for testing professionals. The 19th annual Language Testing Research Colloquium held in 1997 in Orlando, Florida, brought this overall concern into sharp focus by having 'Fairness in Language Testing' as its theme. The conference presentations and discussions attempted to understand the concept of...

This book studies the effect of background knowledge on reading comprehension and investigates the claim from the field of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) that tertiary level students for whom English is a second language should be given reading proficiency tests in their own academic subject areas. The volume includes a comprehensive overview of recent research into reading, in both a first and second language, an account of the development of the reading subtests for IELTS, a full description of the pilot and main phases of the empirical study, a discussion of the relative importance of...

This book investigates the influence of test taker characteristics on performance in tests of English as a foreign language by exploring the relationships between these two groups of variables. Data from a test taker questionnaire and performance on the First Certificate in English (FCE) and the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) were used for the study. The research was conducted in a construct validation context and aimed to increase our understanding of the individual differences among test takers that influence their test performance. The application of a structural modeling...

Verbal protocol analysis (VPA) is a methodology that is being used extensively by researchers. Recently, individuals working in the area of testing, and in language testing in particular, have begun to appreciate the roles VPA might play in the development and evaluation of assessment instruments. VPA is a complex methodology however, and individuals choosing to use the technique require some degree of training in order to maximize the benefits in adopting this approach, and in order to avoid some of the more common misunderstandings and pitfalls associated with the use of verbal data. Usiing...

This volume introduces the theoretical and empirical bases for defining English language learning levels in terms of criterial features.