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Using Confidence Intervals to Determine Adequate Item Sample Sizes for Vocabulary Tests: An Essential but Overlooked Practice
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Gyllstad, Henrik; McLean, Stuart; Stewart, Jeffrey – Language Testing, 2021
The last three decades have seen an increase of tests aimed at measuring an individual's vocabulary level or size. The target words used in these tests are typically sampled from word frequency lists, which are in turn based on language corpora. Conventionally, test developers sample items from frequency bands of 1000 words; different tests employ…
Descriptors: Vocabulary Development, Sample Size, Language Tests, Test Items
Assessing Rasch Measurement Estimation Methods across R Packages with Yes/No Vocabulary Test Data
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Nicklin, Christopher; Vitta, Joseph P. – Language Testing, 2022
Instrument measurement conducted with Rasch analysis is a common process in language assessment research. A recent systematic review of 215 studies involving Rasch analysis in language testing and applied linguistics research reported that 23 different software packages had been utilized. However, none of the analyses were conducted with one of…
Descriptors: Programming Languages, Vocabulary Development, Language Tests, Computer Software
Predicting L2 Reading Proficiency with Modalities of Vocabulary Knowledge: A Bootstrapping Approach
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McLean, Stuart; Stewart, Jeffrey; Batty, Aaron Olaf – Language Testing, 2020
Vocabulary's relationship to reading proficiency is frequently cited as a justification for the assessment of L2 written receptive vocabulary knowledge. However, to date, there has been relatively little research regarding which modalities of vocabulary knowledge have the strongest correlations to reading proficiency, and observed differences have…
Descriptors: Prediction, Reading Tests, Language Proficiency, Test Items
A Comparison of Three Test Formats to Assess Word Difficulty
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Culligan, Brent – Language Testing, 2015
This study compared three common vocabulary test formats, the Yes/No test, the Vocabulary Knowledge Scale (VKS), and the Vocabulary Levels Test (VLT), as measures of vocabulary difficulty. Vocabulary difficulty was defined as the item difficulty estimated through Item Response Theory (IRT) analysis. Three tests were given to 165 Japanese students,…
Descriptors: Language Tests, Test Format, Comparative Analysis, Vocabulary
A Comparison of Video- and Audio-Mediated Listening Tests with Many-Facet Rasch Modeling and Differential Distractor Functioning
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Batty, Aaron Olaf – Language Testing, 2015
The rise in the affordability of quality video production equipment has resulted in increased interest in video-mediated tests of foreign language listening comprehension. Although research on such tests has continued fairly steadily since the early 1980s, studies have relied on analyses of raw scores, despite the growing prevalence of item…
Descriptors: Listening Comprehension Tests, Comparative Analysis, Video Technology, Audio Equipment
Can Placement Tests Inform Instructional Decisions?
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Green, Anthony B.; Weir, Cyril J. – Language Testing, 2004
Studies of placement tests are typically narrowly concerned with their validation as instruments for the efficient grouping of students. They rarely explore the assumption that placement test content can be related to classroom tasks and so inform instructional decisions. This study focuses on a trial version of the Global Placement Test (GPT), a…
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Test Format, Instructional Materials, Inferences