This paper assesses the performance of a vocabulary test designed to measure second language productive vocabulary knowledge.The test, Lex30, uses a word association task to elicit vocabulary, and uses word frequency data to measure the vocabulary produced. Here we report firstly on the reliability of the test as measured by a test-retest study, a…

The primary purpose of this study was to provide preliminary validity evidence for a 140-item form of the Vocabulary Size Test, which is designed to measure written receptive knowledge of the first 14,000 words of English. Nineteen native speakers of English and 178 native speakers of Japanese participated in the study. Analyses based on the Rasch…

This construct validation study investigated the factor structure of the Test of English as a Foreign Language[TM] Internet-based test (TOEFL[R] iBT). An item-level confirmatory factor analysis was conducted for a test form completed by participants in a field study. A higher-order factor model was identified, with a higher-order general factor…

Grammar is central to language description and a "posteriori" construct validation of language tests consistently identifies grammar as a significant factor in differentiating between score levels and characterizing overall proficiency. However, there is currently no model of grammatical competence robust enough to be operationalized in tests.…

This article reports on a large-scale study that aims to validate the theory of strategic competence proposed by Bachman and Palmer (1996) through the use of structural equation modeling (SEM). The present study examines the relationship of test-takers' long-term strategic knowledge (i.e., trait strategies) and actual strategy use (i.e., state…

This simulation study considered the effects on statistical measures of test dimensionality that result from systematic sampling variation in both a single- and a double-trait assessment model. Results suggest that there are distinct psychological and psychometric states of test dimensionality, and that psychometric unidimensionality may be…

This paper describes the development and validation of the Cognate Awareness Test (CAT), which measures cognate awareness in Spanish-speaking English Language Learners (ELLs) in fourth and fifth grade. An investigation of differential performance on the two subtests of the CAT (cognates and noncognates) provides evidence that the instrument is…

This article reports the first results of a long-term research project focusing on the detection and possible linguistic causes of differential item functioning (DIF) for second generation immigrant students in the Final Test of Primary Education in the Netherlands. The main aim of the project is to provide test constructors with information which…

The use of standards-based classroom assessments to test English learners' language proficiency is increasingly prevalent in the United States and many other countries. In a large urban school district in California, for example, a classroom assessment is used to make high-stakes decisions about English learners' progress from one level to the…

Examines the concept of washback as an instance of the consequential aspect of construct validity, linking positive washback to direct assessments and the need to minimize construct underrepresentation and construct-irrelevant difficulty in the test. The article explains washback as referring to the extent to which test use influences language…

A study investigated whether examinees taking the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) attended to the text passages in the "minitalks" when answering the multiple-choice items (n=337) testing listening comprehension. Results support the construct validity of the minitalks, and also allow comparison between reading and listening…

Violations of item unidimensionality on language tests produced distorted estimates of person ability, and violations of person unidimensionality produced distorted estimates of item difficulty. The Bejar Method was sensitive to such distortions. (Author)

Analyzed Francophone university students' (N=182) performance on eight English-As-a-Second-Language cloze tests (in terms of cloze-taking ability, language knowledge, content domain, and knowledge of contextual constraints). Results revealed that cloze performance was dependent on language factors and nonlinguistic-specific knowledge related to…

The purpose of this study was to replicate previous research on the construct validity of the paper-based version of the TOEFL and extend it to the computer-based TOEFL. Two samples of Graduate Record Examination (GRE) General Test-takers were used: native speakers of English specially recruited to take the computer-based TOEFL, and ESL…

Discusses the role of the Rasch model IRT in evaluating two subtests of the Occupational English test and argues for its use in exploring test constructs and in considering the implications of the empirical analysis presented for the validity of communicative language tests involving speaking and writing skills. (39 references) (Author/JL)