The construct of English oral proficiency tests : Which aspects of communication are measured

概要

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It has been claimed that language tests have maintained relatively conservative views on what to test and have been mostly attending to test-takers' language-specific features. This concern needs to be taken seriously since a narrowly defined, language-oriented construct undermines the inference about test-takers' communicative performance in the real world. This study investigated the aspects of communication that are often included in and excluded from the construct definitions of current English oral proficiency tests. This study analyzed publicly available handbooks, official websites, and reviews of 14 English oral proficiency tests. Content analysis was conducted on the assessment criteria used in the tests. The results showed that the tests' construct definitions focus too tightly on the components of language proficiency (grammatical knowledge, sociolinguistic knowledge, and fluency). On the other hand, features closely related to the fulfillment of communicative tasks (content, communication strategies, and non-verbal behaviors) are not necessarily assessed by the tests. Given these results, it is recommended that stakeholders of oral proficiency tests be careful about test score interpretation and take into account the non-linguistic features underlying communication in classroom assessment.
2013-03-30