Task 4
• Identify a reliable colleague or group of colleagues and ask them to review one of your EAP tests or test specifications. You could devise a scale which will allow them to identify the extent to which they feel that each of your items is an appropriate or valid measure of the constructs which you are trying to measure. Once your colleagues have reviewed and annotated your test papers, consider any patterns which might indicate the need to revise your items in order to enhance validity.
• Invite a group of test takers to be interviewed shortly after the completion of an EAP test and ask them a series of questions
about their experience of the EAP test and any problems that they encountered or suggestions that they might have for enhancement. Once the data has been collected, and if possible transcribed, try to identify patterns of theme which can be considered when revising or enhancing your tests and preparatory materials.
Exploratory factor analysis
This procedure can involve analysis of patterns in test scores of test takers who have taken a number of different test versions. Factor analysis can be used to examine the construct validity of items through the process of reducing or clustering a larger number of variables in the form of responses to different test items to a smaller number (Bachman, 2004, pp. 257–293; Fulcher & Davidson, 2007, p. 184). In brief, this allows responses to similar items which test the same construct to be conflated as a more powerful measure.
Rasch Analysis
This statistical procedure can be used by EAP test developers who intend to use the total score on a test or questionnaire to summarize each person. A Rasch Analysis offers evidence with regard to:
• the extent to which a particular EAP item may under- or over-discriminate in relation to the overall total test score.
• two or more groups in which any EAP test item may function differently. • variances with regard to the statistical independence of the items.
Through consideration and further exploration of the resources above, the EAP practitioner can become familiar with a means of providing quantitative evidence in order to support test use (Bachman, 2004, p. x). Given the high-stakes nature of EAP, this aspect of assessment skill is crucial as it assists in enabling us to demonstrate whether or not tests are reliable and, therefore, can be used to mitigate the risk associated with unfair decision-making and the impact which this can have on individuals.
124 Chapter 10: Inferential statistics and applications in EAP assessment
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