Abstract
This study investigated possible gender bias on a vocabulary test, using a method suggested by Andrich and Hagquist to detect “real” differential item functioning (DIF). A total of 443 adult ESL learners completed all 228 items of the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT-IV). The 310 female and 133 male participants were assumed to be of equal competence, corresponding to levels B1 and B2 on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. Male participants outscored female participants, possibly due to the multiple-choice format and to the fact that most gender-biased questions favored men rather than women. Finally, our analysis process yielded only seven items out of 228 as showing gender DIF, which is much lower than the numbers reported in the literature for ESL tests. This low figure suggests that the high number of gender-related DIF items reported in previous research might be attributed to the use of DIF detecting methods that do not take into account artificial DIF stemming from the cross-contamination of test items.
Highlights
The literature on gender issues in language testing has shed light on a wide array of variables that researchers considered as potential contributors to differences in scores
Our compilation of such variables shows that differences in language test scores between male and female participants of similar competence are generally attributed to three broad categories of factors: motivation and attitudes toward reading, text topics, and the type of questions asked
This is consistent with that the claim that the Andrich and Hagquist method is superior to the non-Item Reponse Theory (IRT) methods because it avoids detecting items in which differential item functioning (DIF) is not really present, but appears to be, due to contamination from items with real DIF
Summary
The literature on gender issues in language testing has shed light on a wide array of variables that researchers considered as potential contributors to differences in scores. Our compilation of such variables shows that differences in language test scores between male and female participants of similar competence are generally attributed to three broad categories of factors: motivation and attitudes toward reading, text topics, and the type of questions asked. Those three categories are briefly explained below
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