TOEFL Junior Research Articles

The Correlation Between Students’ Reading Attitude and Their Reading Comprehension

The act of comprehending a text is known as reading comprehension. The aim is to fully comprehend what is being described in the text. L2 reading may be influenced by a variety of factors, one of them is reading attitude. A learner's reading attitude, which affects whether they enjoy or hate reading, may have an impact on their reading skills through how involved they are with their reading. The aim of this study is to determine whether or not reading comprehension and student attitudes are correlated. A total of 48 junior high school students in the eighth grade participated in this study. The data was collected by distributing a reading attitude questionnaire and reading comprehension TOEFL Junior Test. The result found that the students’ reading attitude was fairly good (M = 3.40) and their reading comprehension was mostly at B1 level (M = 288.35). However, the result of Pearson Correlation showed that there is a weak correlation between students’ reading attitude and their reading comprehension (r = .279, p = 0.055). The students believe that reading can give them a positive impact, yet they do not really like the activity of reading.

Does Self-Efficacy Moderate the Contribution of Metacognitive Awareness to Listening Comprehension?

Does Self-Efficacy Moderate the Contribution of Metacognitive Awareness to Listening Comprehension? Current studies relate the issue of listening skills to several aspects. However, it still requires more empirical finding on the contribution of self-efficacy and metacognition toward listening comprehension. This study aimed to find the effect of metacognition on listening ability through self-efficacy and seek a suitable structural model. The chosen design was ex post facto research with a correlation using a path analysis model. This research was conducted at one of the state Islamic high schools in the city of Kediri. A total of 250 ten grader students participated in this research. Three instruments were used to collect data, including a closed questionnaire about self-efficacy, a closed questionnaire about students' metacognition sensitivity, and listening questions that adopted the TOEFL Junior Test. The results showed that the metacognitive influence model on listening did not significantly affect (p = .180), while the other two models showed a significant effect (metacognitive on self-efficacy, p = .000; self-efficacy on listening ability, p = .011). However, the indirect effect of students' metacognition abilities on listening ability through self-efficacy was significant at .059. Related to the path analysis model, the partial-mediated path analysis model was compiled, modified into a full-mediated model to meet the criteria of goodness of fit index.

Exploring the Relationship Between L2 Listening and Metacognition After Controlling for Vocabulary Knowledge

Metacognition is known to be important for L2 listening comprehension. However, it is unclear how much variance in listening performance it can explain after controlling for vocabulary knowledge. To examine this, data from the listening section of the TOEFL Junior test, the Metacognitive Awareness Listening Questionnaire (MALQ), and the Listening Vocabulary Levels Test were collected from 76 high school EFL learners in Japan. The MALQ measured five subscales of metacognition representing metacognitive skills and metacognitive knowledge. Representing skills, the MALQ measured perceptions of the ability to (1) plan and evaluate performance, (2) direct attention, and (3) overcome listening problems. Representing knowledge, it measured strategic knowledge of (4) avoiding mentally translating speech and person knowledge of (5) maintaining positive attitudes about listening. The descriptive results showed that participants used their metacognition moderately. Of the subscales, they directed attention the most, planned and evaluated performance least, and perceived their ability to avoid mental translation, solve problems, and maintain optimism equivalently. The results from the hierarchical regression analysis further showed that vocabulary knowledge and metacognition overall predicted listening performance. Of the MALQ subscales, only person knowledge predicted comprehension. These findings indicate that, contrary to earlier findings, metacognition was important for listening comprehension after accounting for vocabulary knowledge.

New Validity Evidence on the TOEFL Junior® Standard Test as a Measure of Progress

The TOEFL Junior® Standard test is a tool for measuring the English language skills of students ages 11+ who learn English as an additional language. It is a paper‐based multiple‐choice test and measures proficiency in three sections: listening, form and meaning, and reading. To date, empirical evidence provides some support for the construct validity of the TOEFL Junior Standard test as a measure of progress. Although this evidence is based on test scores from multiple countries with diverse instructional environments, it does not account for students' instructional experiences. The present paper aims to provide additional evidence by examining the TOEFL Junior Standard test as a progress measure within the same instructional setting. The study took place in an after‐school English program in Armenia, a non‐English‐speaking country. A total of 154 adolescents took the TOEFL Junior Standard test three times with different test forms at the intervals of 10 and then 20 instructional weeks (a total of 30 weeks). The difference in differences (DID) analysis shows that TOEFL Junior is sensitive to learning gains within 20 instructional hours per 10 weeks among A1–A2 level learners, according to the Common European Frame of Reference (CEFR) scale. However, the data did not provide support for this sensitivity among B1–B2 level learners even though their instructional time was twice as long. Although this methodology offers an improved control over the students' instructional experiences, it also delimits the results to a specific after‐school program and comes with a set of other limitations.

Cognitive vs. metacognitive scaffolding strategies and EFL learners’ listening comprehension development

Studies have documented the significance of scaffolding as a sociocultural theory driven type of assistance for the development of English as foreign language (EFL) learners’ language skills in general; however, the comparative efficacy of various cognitive and/or metacognitive scaffolding procedures for EFL learners’ listening comprehension development and progress has received scant attention. As a partial attempt in this regard, this study investigated the comparative efficacy of cognitive and metacognitive scaffolding strategies for EFL learners’ listening comprehension development. For this purpose, 90 intermediate level EFL learners aged 15 to 20 were selected to participate in this study. The participants’ actual proficiency level was assessed using a sample TOEFL Junior Standard test and relatively homogeneous classes of nearly 15 learners were formed and randomly assigned to two experimental conditions and a control one. The listening section of TOEFL Junior standard test was used as the pre- and posttest. While the learners in both experimental conditions worked in groups of three or four learners on some listening comprehension tasks, the participants of the first experimental condition received cognitive scaffolding strategies, and the second experimental group members were treated using metacognitive scaffolding strategies, the control group members received teacher-fronted non-scaffolding instruction. In addition to a listening comprehension posttest, a semi-structured interview was given to a number of participants of each experimental condition to explore their attitudes towards given scaffolding strategies. The analyses verified that metacognitive scaffolding strategies had a significant superior effect on EFL learners’ listening development compared to cognitive scaffolding strategies and non-scaffolding instruction. Furthermore, the analyses revealed that the EFL learners were generally more pleased with the metacognitive scaffolding procedures and viewed them as instructive, innovative, and effective for finding problems, better comprehension and increased readiness.

Group Dynamic Assessment and EFL Learners’ Oral Production, Motivation, and Classroom Anxiety

The present study examined the impact of group dynamic assessment (G-DA) on English as foreign language (EFL) learners’ oral production, motivation, and classroom anxiety. For this purpose, Student Motivational State Questionnaire Guilloteaux and Dornyei, TESOL Quarterly 42, 55–77, (2008) and Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) Horwitz et al., The Modern Language Journal 70, 125–132(1986) were employed. In addition, IELTS Speaking Sample Tests were used to assess participants’ oral proficiency levels before and after the treatment. At first, 100 EFL learners at pre-intermediate and intermediate levels of English proficiency were selected through convenience sampling procedure from some language institutes. Next, a sample TOEFL Junior Standard Test was administered to the participants and based on test rubrics, 77 A2 and B1 level EFL learners were identified and randomly assigned to experimental G-DA groups A and B, and non-dynamic assessment (NDA) control groups C and D. All study groups participated in 14 sessions of speaking practice in which G-DA-based mediations were employed for groups A and B following Poehner’s (2005) mediation typology, while groups C and D were subjected to NDA forms of practice. The results underscored the relative positive impact of G-DA on EFL learners’ oral proficiency development and classroom anxiety reduction. However, compared to NDA, G-DA did not have any positive effect on the participants’ motivation level. The findings seem to imply that a socially constructive environment which is more likely created in EFL classes as a result of the application of group-based dynamic assessment of the EFL learners’ language problems leads to more efficient identification of the group’s zone of proximal development (GZPD). Furthermore, G-DA seems to be an efficient procedure for lowering the anxiety level of foreign language learners in classroom context.

METACOGNITIVE AWARENESS AND SELF-EFFICACY: DO THEY CONTRIBUTE TO INDONESIAN EFL STUDENTS’ LISTENING COMPREHENSION ACHIEVEMENT?

Purpose of the Study: This study examines the correlation between metacognitive awareness, listening self-efficacy, and listening comprehension achievement of Islamic secondary school students in Indonesia.
 Methodology: To obtain the data on students’ metacognitive awareness, Metacognitive Awareness Listening Questionnaire (MALQ) and Metacognitive Awareness Inventory (MAI) was used. Data on students’ self-efficacy was gained using the simplified version of Rahimi and Abedini’s (2009) self-efficacy questionnaire (SEQ), The Morgan-Jinks Student Efficacy Scale (MSES), and Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ). Meanwhile, students’ listening comprehension achievement was measured using the TOEFL Junior Test from Educational Testing Service. A total of 264 learners involved in this study.
 Main Findings: The result of correlational analysis using Kendall Tau-b formula revealed that 1) there was no significant contribution of learners’ metacognitive awareness toward their listening comprehension achievement, 2) students’ listening self-efficacy has a very low correlation with their listening comprehension achievement, and 3) simultaneously, students’ metacognitive awareness and their self-efficacy showed a very low reciprocal relationship with their listening comprehension.
 Applications of the study: This study is relevant to senior secondary education in the Indonesian context in which English is the first foreign language. More specifically, it is relevant to schools whose students are multilingual and come from different backgrounds both economically and geographically.
 Novelty/Originality of this study: Unlike other studies in a similar context that measures the general English academic achievement, this study focuses on a specific skill, listening comprehension. In addition, it uses two variables (metacognitive awareness and self-efficacy) outright as the predictors of students’ listening comprehension achievement.

Individual Differences in Second Language Listening: Examining the Role of Knowledge, Metacognitive Awareness, Memory, and Attention

AbstractThe aim of this study was to examine the direct and indirect effects of domain‐specific knowledge (vocabulary knowledge and topical knowledge) and domain‐general cognitive abilities (metacognitive awareness, memory, and attentional control) on second language listening comprehension. Data were collected from 226 Japanese senior high school EFL students. Data sources included a practice version of the TOEFL Junior Standard test, the Listening Vocabulary Levels Test, the Metacognitive Awareness Listening Questionnaire, memory recall tests, attentional control tests, and a study‐generated questionnaire measuring topical knowledge. Scores from these instruments were examined using structural equation modeling. The results showed that vocabulary knowledge had the strongest total effect on listening performance. Topical knowledge and attentional control also had direct effects. Only metacognitive awareness had an indirect effect on listening comprehension through topical knowledge. The findings indicate that differences in domain‐specific knowledge, particularly vocabulary knowledge, are the most important for predicting listening comprehension.

An investigation of the validity of a speaking assessment for adolescent English language learners

Given the increasing emphasis of communicative competence in English as a foreign language (EFL) contexts and the lack of validation research on speaking assessments for adolescent EFL learners, in the current study we examined the validity of the TOEFL Junior® speaking test, a relatively new speaking assessment developed by Educational Testing Service. We utilized Messick’s integrative view of construct validity (1996) and Kane’s interpretation argument framework (Kane, 2013), and focused on two sources of validity evidence: internal structure and external relations to other variables (AERA, APA, and NCME, 2014). We used a cross-sectional design with 252 seventh-to-ninth graders in Taiwan, which aligns with the spectrum of the TOEFL Junior®’s target age group. All adolescent participants took the TOEFL Junior® speaking test and two researcher-developed speaking tests. They also completed a survey reporting their history of English learning experiences from kindergarten to present and evaluating their own English language skills. Adolescent participants’ teachers provided evaluations of participants’ English language skills. Results from correlational tests and confirmatory factor analysis showed robust evidence for the test’s internal structure. Correlation and multiple regression models also demonstrated strong positive relationships between TOEFL Junior® test scores and external variables, providing evidence for TOEFL Junior®’s construct validity.

The Correlation between Self-Regulation Learning and Listening Comprehension of the Eleventh Grade Students

This research aimed to describe the correlation between self-regulation and listening comprehension. The method which was used in this research was correlational research. The population of the research was the eleventh grade students of SMA Muhammadyah 2 Palembang. There were 105 students from four classes as the population in this research. The sample was taken by using a total sampling which consists of 99 students. Furthermore, there were two variables in this research. The first one was self-regulation (variable X) and the second one was listening comprehension (variable Y). The self-regulation score was taken from the MSLQ questionnaire whereas the student’ comprehension in listening was taken from TOEFL Junior descriptive statistics for the MSLQ and listening comprehension. Based on Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient, the result indicated that the pattern of correlation between self-regulation and listening comprehension was negative. The correlation coefficient or the r-obtained (.300) was higher than r-table (.0.1663). Then, the level of probability (p) significance (sig.2-tailed) was .003. It means that p (0.03) was lower than .05. Thus, there was a significant correlation between the self-regulation and listening comprehension.

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

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.

Is Greater Access to English Language Learning Associated With Better Performance on the TOEFL Junior® Comprehensive Test? An Exploratory Investigation

While many researchers have studied the relationship of socioeconomic status (SES) to adult learners' English language proficiency levels, little is known about this relationship for young learners (i.e., teenagers). In this study, we investigated the degree to which access to English language learning, as reflected by learners' SES, is associated with young learners' English language proficiency as measured by the TOEFL Junior® Comprehensive test. We analyzed data from 3,053 young English learners (aged 10–16 years) from 9 countries. Data included TOEFL Junior scores and self‐reported SES‐related background information indicating starting age of learning English, number of hours spent learning English in after‐school programs, length of stay in an English‐speaking country, and typing in and learning English on a computer. We found that the latter three factors were significantly associated with TOEFL Junior scores, with substantial variations among countries. These findings suggest that disparities in access to and opportunities for learning may have an impact on young learners' English proficiency levels. However, such relationships should be interpreted in the context of particular countries to arrive at more accurate interpretations and effective decisions in relation to English learning policies and practices.

Young Adolescent EFL Students’ Writing Skill Development: Insights From Assessment Data

ABSTRACTThe purpose of this study is to investigate the developmental writing patterns of English as a foreign language (EFL) students across different score levels through a TOEFL Junior® writing task. The sample of this study comprised 2,016 young adolescent EFL students, ranging from 10 to 15 years old, who took the TOEFL Junior test. We performed a detailed analysis of student essays to identify possible patterns in the development of young adolescent EFL students’ academic writing ability. Linguistic characteristics, such as lexical, syntactic, and discourse features, as well as organizational and content features specific to the argumentative writing genre, were examined by using automated writing evaluation tools and human ratings. The results of descriptive statistics, significance testing, and regression analyses yielded notable patterns for linguistic accuracy and complexity variables. Certain linguistic and content-related features also were found to be highly associated with the writing quality of the young EFL students in the sample. Implications for the instruction and assessment of young adolescent EFL students’ academic writing ability are discussed.

Evaluating Invariance in Test Performance for Adolescent Learners of English as a Foreign Language

AbstractIn this study, we assessed the invariance in the factor structure underlying English‐language proficiency for two groups of adolescent learners in Japan: students in middle school (ages 13–15 years) and students in high school (ages 16–18 years). Language proficiency was measured using the TOEFL Junior® Comprehensive test, an assessment designed to measure the English skills of adolescent English learners in non‐English‐speaking countries. The study results indicate that a correlated 4‐factor model corresponding to the 4 language abilities of reading, listening, speaking, and writing best represents the nature of language proficiency in the 2 groups of adolescent English learners. Moreover, the factor structure is invariant across these 2 groups. However, there is a statistically significant difference in performance on the reading construct. The results are consistent across 2 random samples, thus providing confirmatory evidence of model invariance. This study provides empirical support for the current score‐reporting practices for the TOEFL Junior Comprehensive test and suggests that the test scores have the same meaning across test takers from middle school and high school.

Speaking proficiency of young language students: A discourse-analytic study

This study investigated a range of fluency, grammar, vocabulary, and content features of young language students’ speaking performances, using a discourse-analytic approach. In total, 179 test takers’ responses to the speaking section of the TOEFL Junior® Comprehensive test were selected for analysis. Mixed-design ANOVAs were used to compare 21 spoken discourse features across four proficiency levels and two task types (i.e., a picture narration task and an integrated listen/speak task). The discourse features largely differentiated test takers across proficiency levels. Task types showed some impact on measures of grammar, vocabulary, and content, but had no influence on features of fluency. Findings of the study have implications for the language development of young second and foreign language students and provide insights into language assessment task design for this population.

Can the National Center Test in Japan be replaced by commercially available private English tests of four skills? In the case of TOEFL Junior Comprehensive

BackgroundThe National Center Test is a test that high school graduates take in order to be matriculated into the majority of universities in Japan. Its English section (NCT), though, is scheduled to be replaced by commercially available private English tests of four skills (reading, listening, speaking, writing) due to the fact that NCT currently measures only the receptive skills of reading and listening. A concern has been raised, however, regarding the score comparability between NCT and those tests of four skills. Thus, this study was conducted in order to examine to what extent the score of NCT and TOEFL Junior Comprehensive (JC)—one of the commercially available private English tests of four skills—correlate with each other and to what extent their test constructs overlap from the viewpoint of L2 competence structure.MethodsOne hundred forty-four twelfth graders in Japan took NCT and JC. Pearson’s correlations and an exploratory factor analysis (maximum likelihood) were conducted. Moreover, confirmatory factor analyses and chi-square difference tests were performed in order to compare several models.ResultsThe results show that the scores of the two tests are highly correlated with each other, indicating that JC can be a proper candidate to replace NCT. Moreover, an exploratory factor analysis revealed that all of the six scores can be subsumed under a single factor. According to the results of a series of confirmatory factor analyses and chi-square difference tests, the correlated skill model was shown to be the best fit model, but the unitary model was almost equally a good fit as well.ConclusionsThe results overall indicate that, regardless of tests and skills to measure, English proficiency as a general construct may determine the major portion of these scores. This poses the question of whether, in order to assess learners’ English proficiency, all four skills need to be measured separately.

The Effects of Motivation and Other Factors on Second Language Acquisition: A Case Study on Achieving Advanced Oral Proficiency in English

This paper is based on a case study of Raya, a Palestinian Arab undergraduate student, at the University of Jordan, who has achieved level B1 according to The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) in listening and reading comprehension (‘accomplished’) and CEFR level B2 (‘superior’) in language form and meaning in English according to the TOEFL Junior Exam. Based on multiple data sources (i.e. interviews, observation, questionnaires and document analysis), the study aims to highlight how Raya's multiple identities as a language learner, avid film watcher, YouTube user and online gamer, and a (non) member of a target language community have contributed to her oral proficiency in English. The study also aims to emphasize some personal attributes that Raya has as a language learner in order to uncover the factors which have assisted or hampered her acquisition of English. The main finding of the case study is that Raya's English language proficiency has been enriched because of two overriding factors: firstly, integrative motivation (i.e. her love of English) highlighted through her immersion in the target language by her online identity, films and social interaction; and, secondly, instrumental motivation (i.e. using the language as a means to academic and professional advancement) in the sense she realized English was a way of helping her to achieve her goal of leaving her hometown and studying abroad. It is hoped that this study will inspire and inform both language learners and educators alike, as to some of the steps to success in acquiring proficiency in English or any other language.

The Effects of Motivation and Other Factors on Second Language Acquisition: A Case Study on Achieving Advanced Oral Proficiency in English

This paper is based on a case study of Raya, a Palestinian Arab undergraduate student, at the University of Jordan, who has achieved level B1 according to The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) in listening and reading comprehension (‘accomplished’) and CEFR level B2 (‘superior’) in language form and meaning in English according to the TOEFL Junior Exam. Based on multiple data sources (i.e. interviews, observation, questionnaires and document analysis), the study aims to highlight how Raya's multiple identities as a language learner, avid film watcher, YouTube user and online gamer, and a (non) member of a target language community have contributed to her oral proficiency in English. The study also aims to emphasize some personal attributes that Raya has as a language learner in order to uncover the factors which have assisted or hampered her acquisition of English. The main finding of the case study is that Raya's English language proficiency has been enriched because of two overriding factors: firstly, integrative motivation (i.e. her love of English) highlighted through her immersion in the target language by her online identity, films and social interaction; and, secondly, instrumental motivation (i.e. using the language as a means to academic and professional advancement) in the sense she realized English was a way of helping her to achieve her goal of leaving her hometown and studying abroad. It is hoped that this study will inspire and inform both language learners and educators alike, as to some of the steps to success in acquiring proficiency in English or any other language.

Setting Language Proficiency Score Requirements for English‐as‐a‐Second‐Language Placement Decisions in Secondary Education

The purpose of this study was to collect recommendations for minimum score requirements (cut scores) on the TOEFL Junior® English‐language proficiency test in order to guide decisions on the placement of learners into English as a second language (ESL) support classes. The TOEFL Junior test, intended primarily for students ages 11 and above, measures the academic and social English‐language skills representative of English‐medium instructional environments in secondary education. The study focused on three ESL placement decisions that affect international students applying for admission to English‐medium independent or private secondary schools: (a) deny admission due to insufficient English‐language skills, (b) admit conditionally with placement into ESL support, and (c) admit unconditionally (for students who have sufficient language skills at the time of admission to attend mainstream classes without ESL support). A combination of a modified Angoff standard‐setting approach and a modified Performance Profile standard‐setting approach was followed to identify the TOEFL Junior scores for schools to include in their decision‐making process. A total of 16 language experts from private schools in 12 U.S. states served on the standard‐setting panel. The results of this study provide policymakers with the minimum cut scores recommended by the panel for each section of the two testing modes: the TOEFL Junior Standard and the TOEFL Junior Comprehensive. Recommendations for the use of these scores and limitations of the results are discussed.

Enhancing the Interpretability of the Overall Results of an International Test of English-Language Proficiency

The purpose of this study was to enhance the meaning of the scores of an English-language test by developing performance levels and descriptors for reporting overall test performance. The levels and descriptors were intended to accompany the total scale scores of TOEFL Junior® Standard, an international test of English as a second/foreign language. The study addressed two issues: the number of performance levels that could be meaningfully reported and the information that should be included in the performance level descriptors. Data from 3,607 students who took an operational test form were used. Although our methodology built to some extent on earlier work (Papageorgiou et al., 2015), we demonstrate how content and construct differences between the tests of each study dictated use of different types of data in order to construct meaningful performance descriptors and select the cut-offs for the levels. We emphasize the importance of establishing the psychometric quality of the reported overall levels and the empirical basis for the content of their performance descriptors, and we discuss the implications of our work for similar efforts in the future.