As the scatter diagram shows, there is a discernible correlation in the spread of grades indicated by the visible line. An outlier is notable in the value 46, which does not follow the pattern or direction of the score from the other test taken by the same student. This is caused by a student gaining 23/50 in the vocabulary test and 46/50 in the reading test. There may be an explanation for this which is worthy of investigation.


In this case, the results show that the value of ‘r’ is 0.8927. The Pearson correlation coeffi cient, referred to as ‘r’, can be anything from +1 to -1. An ‘r’ value of 0 shows that there is no correlation between the two listed variables. Values which are greater than 0 indicate a positive correlation. This ‘r’ shows a strong positive correlation, which means that high X (vocabulary test) variable scores go with high Y (reading test) variable scores (and vice versa).


50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0


0 10 20 30 X value – EAP vocabulary marks


Other correlation procedures also exist, such as Spearman Rank Correlation, which can be used to investigate the relationship between two variables without interval measures or normal distribution.


Task 1


• Take a set of results from one of your previous EAP test papers and see if you can use some of the results to identify any relationships between different test papers or sets of results. See if the information and the correlations which are revealed match your expectations or if they tell you something about your teaching or students’ learning processes.


• If you aren’t able to use past sets of data, consider reviewing the way you arrange your questions and design your tests so that you might be able to


investigate correlations in the future. Remember, you should only do this if it doesn’t adversely affect the validity or integrity of your EAP tests.


40 50


118


Chapter 10: Inferential statistics and applications in EAP assessment


Y value – EAP reading marks


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