Factor structure of the Test of English for Academic Purposes (TEAP®) test in relation to the TOEFL iBT® test

Yo In’Nami,Keita Nakamura,Rie Koizumi

doi:10.1186/s40468-016-0025-9

Yo In’Nami, Keita Nakamura + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/s40468-016-0025-9

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Abstract

This study examined the factor structure of the Test of English for Academic Purposes (TEAP®) test—a recently developed academic English test measuring four skills among Japanese university applicants—and compared the structure to that of the Test of English as a Foreign Language Internet-based test (TOEFL iBT®), to investigate the extent towhich the TEAP test is related to the TOEFL iBT test. Using confirmatory item-level factor analysis and scores on both tests, obtained from 100 students, we tested four models (unitary, correlated, receptive-productive, andhigher-order) for the TEAP test. We found that the higher-order model fit the data best. This suggests that the TEAP measures the four skills of reading, listening, writing, and speaking well and that they could be conceptualized as reflecting a single academic proficiency. This supports the appropriateness of the constructs, as defined and operationalized in the specifications of the TEAP test. Further, we found a close relationship between the TEAP and the TOEFL iBT tests (1.005). This suggests that both tests measure a very similar construct. This provides positive evidence of the concurrent validity of the TEAP test, as an indicator of academic English skills. These results were also supported by a follow-up analysis using item-parceled data. The close relationship between the TEAP and TOEFL iBT tests suggests that the TEAP test measures the intended construct of the four skills in academic settings very well.

Highlights

This study examined the factor structure of the Test of English for Academic Purposes (TEAP®) test—a recently developed academic English test measuring four skills among Japanese university applicants—and compared the structure to that of the Test of English as a Foreign Language Internet-based test (TOEFL iBT®), to investigate the extent towhich the TEAP test is related to the TOEFL iBT test
We focused on Japanese university entrance examinations and report on the Test of English for Academic Purposes (TEAP®) test—a recently developed English test for Japanese university applicants, designed to measure four skills, namely, reading, listening, writing, and speaking in an academic context
As part of its validation study, we report on the factor structure of the TEAP test in relation to that of the TOEFL iBT test—a more established instrument of the four skills in an academic setting—to examine the extent to which the TEAP test measures a construct similar to the one measured by the TOEFL iBT test

Summary

Results

Item-level factor structure of the TEAP test Table 2 shows fit statistics for the four hypothesized models of the TEAP test. The higher-order model (Model 1D) showed an overall good model fit with the data (CFI = .932, TLI = .931, RMSEA = .014 [.000, .022], and WRMR = .931). Good model-data fit was obtained for the other three models. The fit of the higher-order model was compared to the fit of the other three models using chi-square difference tests.

Background

Method

2: TOEFL iBT unitary

Discussion and conclusion