This study presents the development and empirical validation of score levels and descriptors specifically designed for reporting purposes to provide test takers with more than just a number on a score scale. In the context of a test primarily intended for 11-to 15-year-old students learning English as a second/foreign language, the study examined the number of band levels that could be meaningfully distinguished, the reliability of the classification of students into these band levels, and the development of overall performance descriptors that would provide meaningful information to score users. The performance data from 2,931 students who took the test were used. The band level solution was determined by balancing considerations for the reliability of classification decisions and the desire for the levels to represent meaningful performance differences. To construct meaningful descriptors for the band levels, multiple sources of information were examined, including the scoring rubrics, the characteristics of test items, typical student performance profiles, and the performance of norm groups on the test. The importance of establishing the psychometric quality of band levels and the empirical basis for performance descriptors, as well as the implications for similar efforts, are discussed.

This paper presents the theoretical and empirical foundations of the TOEFL Junior® assessment and its development process. The TOEFL Junior test was developed to address the increasing need for objective measures of English language proficiency for young adolescent learners, who are being introduced to English as a second or foreign language at a much younger age than ever before. This paper presents the test purposes and intended uses, target population, target language use domains, and test constructs of the TOEFL Junior test. Also included is a description of the overall test structure and scoring system, which demonstrates how the constructs are operationalized. Finally, we outline research topics to support the interpretive argument of the use of the test. This document is expected to serve as a reference point during investigations of validity evidence to support the intended test uses over time.

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Previous research has amply established the link between motivation and learning strategy with regards to language learning. However, there have been few investigations into the role of socioeconomic status (SES) in second or foreign language learning. Using questionnaire data on an 8th grade cohort (N ¼ 203, female ¼ 110) from a large urban community in South Korea, we investigated SES as a moderator of the relationship between motivational orientation and language learning strategy use among adolescent students. A series of hierarchical linear models provided empirical evidence that, when drawing only on intrinsic motivation, low-SES adolescents tended to make relatively high use of social strategies. High-SES students, on the other hand, generally showed higher levels of effort, mastery goal orientation, and internal control, and they made greater use of cognitive, metacognitive, compensatory, and social strategies. These findings suggest that an adolescent's SES does affect the relationship between motivation and the use of various language learning strategies; they also suggest the need for greater fostering of low-SES students who are learning foreign languages.

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