• Identification of faulty items provided by colleagues or other individuals who have experienced the test under authentic test conditions.


• Judgements relating to the parity between the test specification and the test version.


• Reflection on any previous comments collected from student feedback, based on the evaluation of past versions of the test.


• A comparison, completed by an EAP staff member, of the current EAP test version with previous versions of the EAP test.


Figure 3: Examples of EAP alpha testing


The second stage is beta testing and this involves the external piloting of pre- production items with a representative group of tests takers. Nevertheless, the point is made that, for large-scale tests that will be used to make inferences and decisions about large numbers of individuals, pre-testing is likely to be a more extensive and rigorous process. As many EAP testing contexts fall into the high-stakes category (Alexander, Argent & Spencer, 2008, p. 307), the need for an appropriate amount of pre-testing seems evident in order to avoid any problems which might influence the lives of test takers, should their results on EAP tests not reflect their true abilities.


Task 9


• In a similar manner to the activity in Task 8, look at Figure 4 and list the activities which you practise in your own EAP assessment which could be considered to be beta testing.


Beta testing for EAP209 final assessment


• Analysis of test results using various techniques, depending on the volume of test takers.


• Verbal or written descriptions of test-taker expectations regarding the EAP test, prior to experiencing the test.


• Representative test-taker views on the face-validity of the EAP test on viewing the test paper, but before taking the test.


• Comments provided by test takers based on their actual experiences of taking the test.


• Annotation of the test paper undertaken by representative test takers to note perceptions of difficulty and problematic areas.


Figure 4: Examples of EAP beta testing


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Chapter 5: Preventing problems in EAP testing before they arise


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