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.
The aim of this chapter is to provide an objective account of the current situation of testing Armenian as the native language in schools, colleges, and workplaces in Armenia. Issues such as the quality, the objectives, and the challenges of Armenian language tests are addressed. First, the chapter focuses on the peculiarities of Armenian in terms of phonology/graphology, vocabulary, morphology, and syntax, since these peculiarities play an important role in decisions about the type of test. Then a brief history of testing Armenian is introduced, in order to give a picture of the testing practice and experience of Armenian as L1. The reasons for the reforms in the field of testing and assessment are explained. The chapter also discusses the challenges of developing the Unified School Leaving and University Entrance test of Armenian in terms of test design and development of test techniques. The discussion is based on research conducted by the Center for Assessment and Testing of the Republic of Armenia.
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.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.