In the classroom not only teachers and administrators can evaluate the content validity of a test. The eight facets of validity proposed by nitko 1996 are the focus of the study. Example public examination bodies ensure through research and pretesting that their tests have both content and face validity. Much current research on tests of personality 9 is construct validation, usually without the benefit of a clear formulation of this process. Concurrent validity is a type of evidence that can be gathered to defend the use of a test for predicting other outcomes. Achievement of construct validity in language testing. While there are numerous methods to assess language, what you want to measure will determine how you assess students. Pdf the present study intends to investigate the construct validity of a test. Twenty common testing mistakes for efl teachers to avoid.
Pdf the construct validity of a language proficiency test. Teachers are the frontiers who are assigned to carry out the. Modern validity theory defines construct validity as the overarching concern of validity research, subsuming all other types of. The ielts academic reading test has been subject to several major changes since its introduction in 1989. The aim of the present research is to examine the viability of the construct validity of the speaking modules of two internationally recognized language proficiency examinations, namely ielts and toefl ibt.
Eric ed403277 validity and washback in language testing. Twenty common testing mistakes for efl teachers to avoid by grant henning this article was first published in volume 20, no. In psychological and educational testing, where the importance and accuracy of tests is paramount, test validity is crucial. Construct validity can be viewed as an overarching term to assess the validity of the measurement procedure e. According to city, state and federal law, all materials used in assessment are required to be valid idea 2004. Specifically, advanced natural language processing nlp tools, manova difference statistics, and discriminant function analyses dfa are used to assess the degree to which and in what ways responses to these tasks differ with. An assessment, in and of itself, is neither valid nor invalid. Additionally, it is important for the evaluator to be familiar with the validity of his or her testing materials to ensure. Construct validity calls for no new scientific approach. As messick 1989 stated, validity is an integrated evaluative judgment of the degree to which empirical evidence and theoretical rationales support the adequacy and appropriateness of inferences and actions based on test scores or other modes of assessment p. Another way of saying this is that content validity concerns, primarily, the adequacy with which the test items adequately and representatively sample the content area to be measured. Types of validity construct validity construct validity examples zexamine scores of known groups e. Overall obtained scores of candidates are believed to reflect their.
Intended as a comprehensive introduction to the construction and use of foreign language tests, this book utilizes modern linguistic knowledge as a base for scientific language testing. First foreign language english started in 2007, aiming at cefr b2 in listening, reading and language use the written examination second foreign languages french, italian, spanish 6year and 4year courses, targeted next for 6year courses, b2 except for listening and writing b1. The impact of test content validity on language teaching. Validity and washback in language testing keywords. Validity in content analysis university of pennsylvania.
Why should a classroom teacher understand construct validity. Construct validity in the ielts academic reading test. Almost any languageinstruction program requires the. Construct this refers to the knowledge, skills, or proficiency an assessment targets. Continued attention to the issues of validity and reliability in second language performance assessment is a challenging but necessary endeavor that will advance the development and use of performance tests. Messick, samuel the concept of washback, especially prominent in the field of applied linguistics, refers to the extent to which a test influences teachers and learners to do things they would not otherwise necessarily do. Construct validity is involved whenever we want to interpret a test as a measure of some attribute or quality which is not operationally defined. Each book in the series guides readers through three main sections, enabling them. If you are unsure what we mean by terms such as constructs, variables, and conceptual and operational definitions, we would recommend that. In the language test, authenticity sometimes distantly related with real communicative tasks by. That is, in the case of language testing, the assessment should. It is a parameter used in sociology, psychology, and other psychometric or behavioral sciences. Language testing and assessment routledge applied linguisticsis a series of comprehensive resource books, providing students and researchers with the support they need for advanced study in the core areas of english language and applied linguistics. Construct validity is not to be identified solely by particular investigative procedures, but by the orientation of the investigator.
A variety of measures contribute to the overall validity of testing materials. Validity is considered to be of paramount importance in language testing, and therefore, remains the. Highstake standardized tests play a crucial and decisive role in determining the future academic life of many people. There are a number of different measures that can be used to validate tests, one of which is construct validity. Construct validity definition of construct validity by. Construct validity does the concept match the specific. Almost any language instruction program requires the. The construct validity of a language proficiency test.
This approach to validity is examined in the context of the following questions. What are the major differences between normreferenced and criterionreferenced tests. A copy that has been read, but remains in clean condition. We use the word developed rather than established to emphasize that construct validation is an ongoing process, the process of theory testing. Psychological testing is the branch of psychology in which we use standardized tests, construct them in order to understand the individual differences. Introduction educational assessment is the responsibility of teachers and administrators not as mere routine of giving marks, but making real evaluation of learners achievements. Rr9617 validity and washback in language testing author. While studies have been done to rate the validity and reliability of the oral proficiency interview opi and oral proficiency interviewcomputer opic independently, a limited amount of research has analyzed the interexam reliability of these tests, and studies have yet to be conducted comparing the results of spanish language. The concept of washback, especially prominent in the field of applied linguistics, refers to the extent to which a test influences teachers and learners to do things they would not otherwise necessarily do. Content validity can be compared to face validity, which means it looks like a valid test to those who use it. Rather, validity refers to whether we have the theoretical and empirical. Demands of being professional in language testing 270 unit b10 validity as argument 278 kane, m. Language testing, content validity, test comprehensiveness, backwash, language education 1. Issues of validity and reliability in second language.
Our clients depend on us to help them create defensible assessment programs whether through the use of our standard language tests, or through the customization of tests specifically for their companies, organizations, or agencies. This study explores the construct validity of speaking tasks included in the toefl ibt e. It could provide users of the method with a terminology for talking about the quality of findings and ultimately with. As an example, think about a general knowledge test of basic algebra. Construct validity is used to determine how well a test measures what it is supposed to measure. The technical committee concerns itself with matters related to consortium test development, test administration, test overviews and rating, statistics, and psychometric analyses. In the clinical literature, a number of recent articles on validity reflect this emphasis on the theorybased, inferential nature of. The validity of the english language proficiency test was evaluated by considering six aspects of construct validity identified by messick. An example is a measurement of the human brain, such as intelligence, level of emotion, proficiency or ability. Apr 27, 2009 construct validation tests are also tests of the validity of the theory that specifies a measures presumed meaning. This indirect means of assessment raises issues of adequacy, appropriateness, and utility of the measures in testing an individuals ability or skill. This article examines the concept of washback as an instance of the consequential aspect of construct validity, linking positive washback to socalled authentic and direct assessments and, more basically, to the need to minimize construct under representation and construct irrelevant difficulty in the test.
Construct validity this refers to the appropriateness of inferences or decisions made based upon a set of test scores. Content validity teachingenglish british council bbc. Concurrent and construct validity of oral language. The research questions addressed concern finding out whether the tests are valid in terms of content and construct. With over 30 years in the language services business, alta has built a reputation as a trusted provider of valid and reliable language tests. And finally, what are the most common threats to construct validity. New views of validity in language testing semantic scholar. The concurrent and construct validity of these two published tests were explored through correlation analysis and principle component factor analysis. Test validity incorporates a number of different validity types, including criterion validity, content validity and construct.
It refers to all the possible uses, applications, and underlying concepts of psychological tests. Rr9617 validity and washback in language testing ets. Language testing in asia volume two, issue two may 2012 102 page the construct validity of a test. Differences in how normreferenced and criterionreferenced tests are developed and validated. In the classical model of test validity, construct validity is one of three main types of validity evidence, alongside content validity and criterion validity. Questions and answers about language testing statistics. This paper attempts to recapitulate the concept of validity, namely construct validity i. Validity is measured through a coefficient, with high validity closer to 1 and low validity closer to 0. Concurrent validity is demonstrated when a test correlates well with a measure that has previously been validated. Construct validity refers to whether a scale or test measures the construct adequately. Validity refers to the degree to which an item is measuring what its actually supposed to be measuring. The most important of these, the result of extensive monitoring and.
Construct validity is the degree to which a test measures what it claims, or purports, to be measuring. Example public examination bodies ensure through research and pre testing that their tests have both content and face validity. Two points are important to note here about construct validity. For example, is the assessment about the ability to use certain phrases appropriately in a situation. During the early and middle parts of the 20 th century, test validity came to be understood in terms of a tests ability to predict a practical criterion cureton 1950. An argumentbased approach to validity 278 contents ix. Major attention in testing is focused on such integrated language skills as auditory and reading comprehension, speaking, writing, translation, and overall language control. Test validity is an indicator of how much meaning can be placed upon a set of test results. After reading language testing oxford introduction to language series, language test construction formed a good further step into the theory that underlies various tests and considerations that go into construction.
Analyses evaluated both the internal structure of the test and the relationship of the scores to external criteria. This video explains what we mean when we speak about validity in assessment and also gives you an overview of the development of test validity over the years. The three types of validity for assessment purposes are content, predictive and construct. Evidence related to the validity of the english language. Construct validity collegeboard construct validity refers to the degree to which a test or other measure assesses the underlying theoretical construct it is supposed to measure i. Pdf the construct validity of a language proficiency. Content validity to produce valid results, the content of a test, survey or measurement method must cover all relevant parts of the subject it aims to measure. It focuses on the criterionreferenced nature of the actfl proficiency guidelinesspeaking. Some writers invoke the notion of washback validity, holding that a tests validity should be gauged by the degree to which it has a positive influence on teaching. A test has content validity if it measures knowledge of the content domain of which it was designed to measure knowledge. Aptis is a flexible english test that was developed by language experts at the british council. The 4 types of validity explained with easy examples.
Some specific examples could be language proficiency, artistic ability or level of displayed aggression, as with the bobo doll experiment. Test construction manual was written by the consortium for language access in t he courts technical committee. Construct validity is considered an overarching term to assess the measurement procedure used to measure a given construct because it incorporates a number of other forms of validity i. Pages can include limited notes and highlighting, and the copy can include previous owner inscriptions. Briefly, construct validity is to interpret test scores in order to assess the language proficiency of the subject and test tasks. In order to decide what methods to use in assessment, it is important to clarify what you are trying to assess. Psychological testing is a term that refers to the use of psychological tests. A study of the validity of english language testing at the higher. This article summarizes some technical issues that add to the complexity of language testing. This focus on criterion prediction may have been a function of three forces. Major attention in testing is focused on such integrated language skills as auditory and reading comprehension, speaking, writing, translation, and overall. The other types of validity described below can all be considered as forms of evidence for construct validity.
Investigating the substantive aspect of construct validity. Ensuring valid content tests for english language learners. Validity and washback in language testing samuel messick. Construct validity refers to the degree to which a test or other measure assesses the underlying theoretical construct it is supposed to measure i. Language test reliability alta lang quality assurance. The validation of measures as their ability to predict criteria. Exploration 291 unit c1 validity an exploration 293 unit c2 assessment in.