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as the ‘trolley problem’ (see Cathcart, 2013 or Edmonds, 2014) was written. For scholarship, a research focus was developed with a lecture on questionnaire design (drawing on Robson, 2007). For lifelong learning, a lecture containing a detailed review of a book on the limits of markets was used (Sandel, 2012). Each lecture had carrier content falling within graduateness topics which was used to test the listening construct in an academic context at B2 level.


Audio clips with these characteristics were difficult to find. They had to be created. Scripting gives the test writer control of what is being tested using the construct. Scripts were drafted and piloted to include target language, particular topics, and an appropriate speed and pace in line with the test specifications. Scripts can, of course, be based on transcriptions of authentic lectures and, therefore, include authentic features such a digression or corrections. They were recorded in quiet conditions and assembled with Audacity, a free audio-editing tool.


A listening test which used a single genre (lecture) and gameable test items (multiple choice) may have produced negative backwash. Backwash is the effect of a test on the teaching and learning that goes before it and can be both positive and negative (Alderson, Clapham and Wall, 1997). There were two ways to mitigate negative backwash in this case. First, the test worked in combination with other integrated skills tests; speaking and listening were also assessed by a seminar simulation. Second, the syllabus was managed in-house, so with a small group of teachers and a five or ten-week scheme of work, teachers were mindful to teach to the learning objectives and not ‘game the test’, i.e., break the rules.


John Wrigglesworth


The pre-sessional assessments needed to indicate whether the student had achieved the required level of English (CEFR, B2). In a pilot study, the test writers benchmarked the final mark of their test to that of a published IELTS one: 100 students sat both under exam conditions. The tests had different specifications for listening and different test items (IELTS includes short answers). However, they were able to see that the pilot group got lower marks on the IELTS test than the piloted one and so we were able to revise both the scripts and test items. Item analysis provided a powerful method of evaluating multiple-choice items (based on Fulcher, 2010). In addition to revising the test, the team also built their writing competence through these processes and readily concur with Brindley and Slatyer (2002), who found task difficulty to be remarkably complex due to the ‘interactions between text, task and learner variables’. It also became clear that alignment to the CEFR is similarly difficult, as Harsch and Hartig (2015) found in research using human judges. However, the writers found item analysis and benchmarking to be important and practical in helping to ensure assessment quality.


CONCLUSION


Course leaders need to maximise the value of their pre-sessional provision to international students. They are high stakes for every international student and the institutions that educate them. Targeted ESAP provision seems to benefit students, but is a challenge to assess for pre-sessional teams. Using graduateness as a guiding system for scripting the content of listening assessments may offer a practical way to address the difficulty of testing all students


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