Student Test Takers' and Teachers' Perceptions of the TOEFL Junior® Standard Test

Abstract

The broad range of English language teaching and learning contexts present in the world today necessitates high quality assessment instruments that can provide reliable and meaningful information about learners' English proficiency levels to relevant stakeholders. The TOEFL Junior® tests were recently introduced by Educational Testing Service (ETS) to address the assessment needs of educators of young adolescent learners by providing necessary information on their English language proficiency. This study explores the perceptions of key stakeholders (202 student test takers and 9 teachers) of the TOEFL Junior Standard test in an English as a foreign language (EFL) context (an afterschool program in Armenia). The analysis of the data gathered through questionnaires provides insights into the perceptions of test users, suggesting that the test tasks were perceived to be developmentally appropriate for the student test takers and allowed them to demonstrate their English language abilities. The findings of the current study can serve as additional validity evidence for the TOEFL Junior Standard as they reflect the correspondence found between the test construct and test users' perceptions and, thus, support the validity argument for TOEFL Junior Standard score interpretation and use in EFL settings.