An investigation into the writing construct(s) measured in Pearson Test of English Academic

Zheng, Ying; Mohammadi, Shaida

doi:10.1075/dujal.2.1.10zhe

Cited by 7 publications

(11 citation statements)

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“…However, the analyses above are based on the assumption that the writing tasks assigned to the test-takers across test occasions are equivalent. This assumption is supported by research on the equivalence of PTE Academic forms (e.g., Zheng & De Jong, 2011). The high correlations among writing scores across test occasions (see Table 5) support this assumption too.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Examining sources of variability in repeaters’ L2 writing scores: The case of the PTE Academic writing section

Barkaoui

2018

Language Testing

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This study aimed to examine the sources of variability in the second-language (L2) writing scores of test-takers who repeated an English language proficiency test, the Pearson Test of English (PTE) Academic, multiple times. Examining repeaters' test scores can provide important information concerning factors contributing to changes in test scores across test occasions. Data consisted of the scores and background data (e.g., gender, age) and other covariates (e.g., context, interval between tests, number of tests attempted) for a sample of 1,000 test-takers who each took PTE Academic three times or more. Multilevel modeling was used to estimate the contribution of various factors to variability in repeaters' PTE Academic writing scores across test-takers and test occasions. The findings indicated that changes in PTE Academic writing scores followed a quadratic trajectory (i.e., initial score increases followed by a decline) and that, as expected, test-taker initial overall English language proficiency (as measured on other sections of the test) was the strongest predictor of differences in PTE Academic writing scores at test occasion one as well as variance (across test-takers) in the rate of change in writing scores over time. Measures of retesting effects were not significantly associated with changes in writing scores, while test-taker factors (e.g., age, gender, and purpose for taking the test) were significantly associated with writing scores at test occasion one, but not with the rate of change in writing scores over time. The study highlights the value of examining repeater' L2 test scores and concludes with a call for more research on the sensitivity of L2 proficiency tests to changes in L2 proficiency over time and in relation to L2 instruction.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Examining sources of variability in repeaters’ L2 writing scores: The case of the PTE Academic writing section

Barkaoui

2018

Language Testing

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“…Evidence : The correlations of scores between the PTEA and two other tests – TOEFL iBT and the IELTS – fell into the .73~.95 range (Zheng & De Jong, 2011). As both the TOEFL iBT and the IELTS aim to measure communicative English language proficiency, the medium to high score correlations suggest that PTEA may have similar score interpretations.…”

Section: Interpretationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Evidence : Test taker feedback from a field test indicates that the test directions are clear and efficient, and the test is easy to navigate. Observed issues in the feedback about the test administration and test environment have reportedly been reviewed and addressed in test revisions (Zheng & De Jong, 2011, p. 21).…”

Section: Interpretationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Items were also removed if the proportion of native speakers who answered the item correct was lower than that of non-native speakers. (Zheng & De Jong, 2011, pp. 21–23) These efforts increase the likelihood that the test tasks could properly address target knowledge and skills in the test construct.…”

Section: Interpretationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Concerns about construct-irrelevant factors such as time management and unfamiliarity with test format that test takers raised in feedback collected from a field trial helped identify potential bias in task formats and content. These concerns were addressed by test revisions (Zheng & De Jong, 2011, p. 21).…”

Section: Interpretationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Review of Pearson Test of English Academic: Building an assessment use argument

Wang¹,

Choi²,

Schmidgall³

et al. 2012

Language Testing

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A Comparative Study of Chinese Test Takers’ Writing Performance in Integrated and Discrete Tasks: Scores and Recurrent Word Combinations in PTE Academic

Chen

Zheng²

2022

Assessing the English Language Writing of Chinese Learners of English

Self Cite

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Despite an increasing number of studies on L1 Chinese students' L2 English writing in recent years, little research is conducted on Chinese test takers' performance in high-stakes international tests, particularly in terms of how integrated and discrete assessment may impact on their writing. This book chapter, therefore, aims to fill this gap by comparing Chinese and non-Chinese test takers' responses in different writing tasks of PTE Academic in terms of scoring and use of recurrent word combinations. As an international test of academic English, PTE Academic includes both the traditional design of independent essay writing as well as two integrated tasks of summary writing from listening or reading input.Written samples from 500 Chinese test takers and another 500 test takers of other L1s were randomly chosen from PTE Academic and analysed. The results indicate that Chinese test takers outperformed their non-Chinese peers in the tasks of read-to-summarise and essay writing. Chinese test takers also tended to write longer responses with more occurrences of recurrent word combinations, and they used more stance expressions in the essays compared with their peers. A closer examination of highly frequent word combinations, however, suggests a relationship between task type and the language elicited, regardless of test takers' L1.

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An investigation into the writing construct(s) measured in Pearson Test of English Academic

Cited by 7 publications

References 0 publications

Examining sources of variability in repeaters’ L2 writing scores: The case of the PTE Academic writing section

Examining sources of variability in repeaters’ L2 writing scores: The case of the PTE Academic writing section

Review of Pearson Test of English Academic: Building an assessment use argument

A Comparative Study of Chinese Test Takers’ Writing Performance in Integrated and Discrete Tasks: Scores and Recurrent Word Combinations in PTE Academic

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