Two Commentaries on Ann Raimes's "The TOEFL Test of Written English: Causes for Concern". A Reader Reacts

Abstract

Ann Raimes's article, TOEFL Test of Written English: Causes for Concern, (TESOL Quarterly, Vol. 24, No. 3, Autumn 1990) has raised some questions about the assessment of ESL writing skills by means of standardized tests. The ESL assessment field is fortunate to have attracted the interest of a renowned and dedicated composition specialist. In the article, Raimes raises many excellent points. For example, her warning to us ESL teachers against teaching for tests is completely appropriate. Furthermore, I agree with Raimes that we ESL professionals need to reassert our positions as experts in our institutions and participate in deciding about admission policies for ESL students. However, in my view, the article presents several unjustified critiques of the Test of Written English (TWE). In this response, I will confine my remarks to only one area discussed in the article, namely, research on the TWE. Raimes asserts that access to the TWE by researchers is severely limited by the Educational Testing Service (ETS) and that there is not enough research conducted on the TWE: What data are released, what research is carried out and reported, and ultimately what is tested and how, remains the province of the ETS staff (p. 429). It is understandable that ETS needs to be careful about releasing data because of concerns about the confidentiality of topics and anonymity of students. But the implication that ETS guards its TWE data in order to control the research agenda does not