A Proposal for a New Theoretical Perspective of Language Test Malcontents: Three Stories

Abstract

This study reports three international graduate students who took an English as a Second Language (ESL) test at a large U.S. public university. Some test takers might be misclassified as non-masters, required to take ESL courses, and thus unable to register for a full load of content courses. The three test-takers perceived themselves to be mis-classified; we call them “malcontents.” These three students were tracked as they began their academic program, via in-depth, face-to-face interviews. Each was audiotaped and transcribed verbatim. We present narratives starting from the test-taking experience and reaching into the first year of graduate program. Two malcontents who were not convinced about their local test results at the beginning later accepted the results after their required ESL courses. Findings indicate that test contentment cannot be judged about the test alone, but can only be judged about the test in concert with any courses into which the test-taker is placed. The stories of malcontents must be identified because their experiences in subsequent courses are an important aspect of establishing the validity evidence; hence, this paper proposes a new theoretical perspective of language test malcontents.