Open AccessVALIDATING A TEST DESIGNED TO ASSESS ESL PROFICIENCY AT LOWER DEVELOPMENTAL LEVELS
Author(s) -
Wilson Kenneth M.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
ets research report series
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.235
H-Index - 5
ISSN - 2330-8516
DOI - 10.1002/j.2333-8504.1999.tb01821.x
Subject(s) - language proficiency , psychology , test (biology) , reading comprehension , language assessment , listening comprehension , mathematics education , active listening , test of english as a foreign language , english as a second language , reading (process) , foreign language , limited english proficiency , english language , exploratory research , linguistics , communication , paleontology , health care , philosophy , sociology , anthropology , economics , biology , economic growth
This exploratory study examined relationships between a test designed to assess English‐language listening comprehension and reading skills in samples of nonnative‐English speakers at lower levels of developed proficiency in English as a second or foreign language (ESL or EFL). The test—called ESL‐EZY—was developed by using items similar to but easier, on the average, than those being used in an existing ESL proficiency test designed for intermediate‐ or higher‐level ESL users/learners. This paper reports evidence regarding the relationship between ESL‐EZY scores and teachers' ratings of oral English proficiency in samples—assessed in diverse settings in the United States and Japan—selected to include subgroups that tend to differ relatively widely in average level of developed English proficiency. Scores on ESL‐EZY were found to correlate relatively strongly with teachers' ratings within the respective subgroups; correlations were especially strong in relatively less proficient subgroups, suggesting that for younger ESL‐students and other ESL‐learners with limited developed functional proficiency in English as a foreign or second language, a test embodying properties similar to those represented by ESL‐EZY might provide useful supplementary assessment information.