Task 2


• To what extent do your own EAP assessment practices mirror those qualities of standardized assessment, as listed in Table 1?


• Which qualities or features would you like to improve in your own EAP assessments?


• In your own experience of external standardized EAP assessments, which characteristics of standardized tests are most evident and most


positive? Which areas are sometimes more questionable or require further development, according to your own experience?


A review of a number of key lessons that can be learnt from the development of three important and internationally renowned EAP-related standardized tests, TOEFL, IELTS and PTE Academic, is included in the sections below.


Lessons in EAP assessment from TOEFL


Originally known more fully as Test of English as a Foreign Language, TOEFL was introduced in the USA in the early 1960s as a means of screening non- native speakers of English for university admissions purposes. The test was devised with the support of the National Council on the Testing of English as a Foreign Language. The Educational Testing Service (ETS) joined forces with the College Board in 1965 in order to share responsibility for TOEFL (ETS, 2011). Table 2 summarizes some of the key evolutionary developments which the TOEFL test has undergone since the 1960s.


Table 2: The evolution of the TOEFL test constructs and contents over three stages of development (ETS, 2011)


Stages


The First TOEFL Test 1964–1979


Construct


Discrete components of language skills and knowledge


Content


Multiple-choice items assessing vocabulary, reading comprehension, listening comprehension, knowledge of correct English structure and grammar.


A Suite of TOEFL Tests 1979–2005


Original constructs (listening, reading, structure and grammar) retained, but two additional ones added: writing ability and speaking ability


In addition to multiple-choice items assessing the original constructs, separate constructed- response tests of writing (the TWE test) and speaking (the TSE test) were developed.


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Chapter 14: Learning from large-scale standardized EAP tests


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