Abstract
BackgroundValidity is a notable concept in language testing which has concerned many researchers and scholars in the field of language testing due to its importance in decision making process. Tests’ results always introduce consequences to test takers’ lives which emphasizes the need to ensure their validity. Detecting and delineating the potential sources that may threaten the validity of standardized tests of English proficiency is therefore of great importance.MethodsThis study was a quantitative investigation of test validity using an interpretive model. The main purpose of this study was to quantitatively assess and determine the relationship between a series of inferences in an interpretive argument-based framework that can potentially threaten the validity of the test.ResultsTo this end samples of TOEFL iBT were analyzed and the obtained results determined its validity expressed in terms of the chain of inferences in the interpretive model.ConclusionThe findings indicated that there is a direct relationship between the performance on the TOEFL iBT and the target domain of English language use, observed test scores are reflective of intended academic language abilities, observed test scores can be generalized to similar language tasks in different occasions and test forms, and expected test scores can be accounted for by underlying language abilities in an academic environment.
Highlights
Validity is a notable concept in language testing which has concerned many researchers and scholars in the field of language testing due to its importance in decision making process
This issue highlights that test validity should be taken into serious account in language testing research
Standardized tests are widely used in education for Esfandiari et al Language Testing in Asia (2018) 8:7 decision-making purposes, a fact that requires ensuring their validity in stages of test development, administration, scoring, interpretation, and decision-making
Summary
Validity is a notable concept in language testing which has concerned many researchers and scholars in the field of language testing due to its importance in decision making process. The possibility that inappropriate score-based interpretations and uses of tests may introduce unfair consequences to different groups of test takers is a great problem for language teachers and researchers. It is of high significance for educational programs and institutes to ensure maximum validity in standardized tests. The 1950s and 1960s witnessed studies on validation of discrete-point language tests while the research shifted attention to communicative language tests during the 1970s (Clark 1975) This illustrates the fact that validity studies in earlier times was confined to limited concepts such as content and construct validity rather than score interpretations as the basis for predictions (Sackett et al 2017). Messick’s unitary concept of validity influenced language testing through Bachman’s 1990 work (Cumming and Berwick 1996; Kunnan 1998)
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