Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 7 of 7
Full-Text Articles in Education
Assessment Criteria In A Large-Scale Writing Test: What Do They Really Mean To The Raters?, Tom Lumley
Assessment Criteria In A Large-Scale Writing Test: What Do They Really Mean To The Raters?, Tom Lumley
Dr Tom Lumley
The process of rating written language performance is still not well understood, despite a body of work investigating this issue over the last decade or so (e.g., Cumming, 1990; Huot, 1990; Vaughan, 1991; Weigle, 1994a; Milanovic et al., 1996). The purpose of this study is to investigate the process by which raters of texts written by ESL learners make their scoring decisions using an analytic rating scale designed for multiple test forms. The context is the Special Test of English Proficiency (step), which is used by the Australian government to assist in immigration decisions. Four trained, experienced and reliable step …
Experimenting With Uncertainty: Essays In Honour Of Alan Davies
Experimenting With Uncertainty: Essays In Honour Of Alan Davies
Dr Tom Lumley
This festschrift brings together 28 invited papers surveying the state of the art in language testing from a perspective which combines technical and broader applied linguistics insights. The papers cover issues ranging from construct definition to the design and applications of language tests, including their importance as a means of exploring larger issues in language teaching, language learning and language policy. The volume locates work in language testing in a context of social, political and ethical issues at a time when testing is increasingly expected to be publicly accountable
Conflicting Perspectives On The Role Of Test Preparation In Relation To Learning, Tom Lumley, Bernadette Stoneman
Conflicting Perspectives On The Role Of Test Preparation In Relation To Learning, Tom Lumley, Bernadette Stoneman
Dr Tom Lumley
Reports on the development of a learning package for a newly introduced test in Hong Kong, the Graduating Students' Language Proficiency Assessment (GSLPA)-English. Examines reactions of teachers and students to the learning package during piloting of the materials.
The Effect Of Interlocutor And Assessment Mode Variables In Overseas Assessments Of Speaking Skills In Occupational Settings, T Mcnamara, Tom Lumley
The Effect Of Interlocutor And Assessment Mode Variables In Overseas Assessments Of Speaking Skills In Occupational Settings, T Mcnamara, Tom Lumley
Dr Tom Lumley
The increasing demand for performance assessment of speaking skills in second languages has led to logistic complications, for example, the delivery of tests in overseas locations. One solution to the problem has been to train native interlocutors to carry out a series of oral interactions with the candidate, with assessment from audiorecordings of the test session postponed and conducted centrally by a small team of trained raters. But these procedures raise questions about the effect of such facets of the assessment situation as interlocutor variables and the quality of the audiotape recording. This article examines these issues in the context …
The Judgements Of Language-Trained Raters And Doctors In A Test Of English For Health Professionals, Tom Lumley
The Judgements Of Language-Trained Raters And Doctors In A Test Of English For Health Professionals, Tom Lumley
Dr Tom Lumley
Research to date has produced conflicting findings concerning the relative harshness and other characteristics of language- trained raters versus 'naive' native speaker or occupational expert raters. This question is considered in the context of a recent standard- setting project carried out for the Occupational English Test, an occupation specific test of English for overseas- trained health professionals. 20 audio recordings of role plays from recent administrations of the tests were each rated by 10 trained ESL raters and 10 medical practitioners. Broad similarities in judgements indicate reliance on ESL-trained raters can be justified.
A New Approach To Standard-Setting In Language Assessment, Tom Lumley, B Lynch, T Mcnamara
A New Approach To Standard-Setting In Language Assessment, Tom Lumley, B Lynch, T Mcnamara
Dr Tom Lumley
In this paper the authors consider a standard setting exercise involving the Occupational English Test, a specific purpose test of English as a second language for health professionals. The Australian test is used as part of the screening of immigrant and refugee health professionals prior to the resumption of their professional careers in their new country of residence.
Mapping Abilities And Skill Levels Using Rasch Techniques, Annie Brown, Catherine Elder, Tom Lumley, Tim Mcnamara, Joy Mcqueen
Mapping Abilities And Skill Levels Using Rasch Techniques, Annie Brown, Catherine Elder, Tom Lumley, Tim Mcnamara, Joy Mcqueen
Dr Tom Lumley
The ongoing interest in investigating the use of Item Response Theory (IRT) methods, involving the Rasch model, in language testing research and the development of language tests has encouraged the authors to explore the nature of this approach and to introduce some research on its validation.