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SELECTING SAMPLES FOR TESTING THE HYPOTHESIS OF DIVISIBLE VERSUS UNITARY COMPETENCE IN LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY
Author(s) -
Powers Donald E.
Publication year - 1982
Publication title -
language learning
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.882
H-Index - 103
eISSN - 1467-9922
pISSN - 0023-8333
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-1770.1982.tb00975.x
Subject(s) - psychology , test of english as a foreign language , unitary state , language proficiency , linguistics , language assessment , trait , competence (human resources) , test (biology) , mathematics education , social psychology , computer science , philosophy , political science , law , programming language , paleontology , biology
Studies have been designed to test whether language proficiency is a single global trait or whether it is divisible into several distinct competencies. Recent studies are reviewed and compared with a recent factor analytic study of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) in several language groups. The comparison suggests that the characteristics of the sample, especially its proficiency in English, can lead to results that tend to support either a unitary trait or several discrete language competencies.