A Rasch-based validation of the Vietnamese version of the Listening Vocabulary Levels Test

Abstract

The Listening Vocabulary Levels Test (LVLT) created by McLean et al. Language Teaching Research 19:741-760, 2015 filled an important gap in the field of second language assessment by introducing an instrument for the measurement of phonological vocabulary knowledge. However, few attempts have been made to provide further validity evidence for the LVLT and no Vietnamese version of the test has been created to date. The present study describes the development and validation of the Vietnamese version of the LVLT. Data was collected from 311 Vietnamese university students and then analyzed based on the Rasch model using several aspects of Messick’s, Educational Measurement, 1989; American Psychologist 50:741–749, 1995 validation framework. Supportive evidence for the test’s validity was provided. First, the test items showed very good fit to the Rasch model and presented a sufficient spread of difficulty. Second, the items displayed sound unidimensionality and were locally independent. Finally, the Vietnamese version of the LVLT showed a high degree of generalizability and was found to positively correlate with the IELTS listening test at 0.65.

Test Format and Local Dependence of Items Revisited: A Case of Two Vocabulary Levels Tests

“…Collected data were computed using WINSTEPS 5.1.5 (Linacre, 2021) based on the Rasch dichotomous model (Rasch, 1960). The study re-used some of the data reported in Ha (2021), of course, with the official agreement of the author.…”

“…This study involved the administration of the two VLT: the UVLT (form B) (Webb et al, 2017) and Vietnamese LVLT (Ha, 2021). The two VLT were reported to have satisfied major validation requirements in Wright and Stone (1999) comprehensive framework which consisted of reliability, separation, fit statistics, unidimensionality and local dependence.…”

“…Local dependence of test items recently attracted the attention of vocabulary linguists, especially when it came to the development and validation of VLT (McLean and Kramer, 2015;Webb et al, 2017;Ha, 2021). Popular VLT in the field mainly employ two formats: the 4-option, multiple-choice format Ha, 2021) and the 3-item-per-cluster, matching format (Schmitt et al, 2001;Webb et al, 2017). Examples of such test items are illustrated below:…”

“…stone: She sat on a stone (visible on the answer sheet). a. hard thing b. kind of chair c. soft thing of the floor d. part of a tree An example of a test item in the Vietnamese LVLT Ha, 2021).…”

“…Therefore, the present study was conducted to re-examine the relationship between LID and the popular test formats in vocabulary assessment: multiple-choice and matching, with the emphasis on the two newest VLT: The Listening Vocabulary Levels Test (LVLT;Ha, 2021) and the UVLT (Webb et al, 2017).…”