Validity Issues in Assessing Linguistic Minorities

Abstract

Throughout the world, tests are administered to some examinees who are not fully proficient in the language in which they are being tested. It has long been acknowledged that proficiency in the language in which a test is administered often affects examinees’ performance on a test. Depending on the context and intended uses for a particular assessment, linguistic proficiency may be relevant to the tested construct and subsequent interpretations, or may be a source of construct-irrelevant variance that undermines accurate interpretation of the test performance of linguistic minorities who are not proficient in the language of the assessment. In this article, we highlight key validity issues to be considered when testing linguistic minorities, regardless of whether language is central or construct-irrelevant. We discuss examples of the different types of studies test users and developers could conduct to evaluate the validity of scores of linguistic minorities. These issues span test development and validation activities. We conclude with a list of critical factors to consider in test development and evaluation whenever linguistic minorities are tested.