Grade-Related Differential Item Functioning in General English Proficiency Test-Kids Listening

Differential Item Functioning (DIF) analysis is always an indispensable methodology for detecting item and test bias in the arena of language testing. This study investigated grade-related DIF in the General English Proficiency Test-Kids (GEPT-Kids) listening section. Quantitative data were test scores collected from 791 test takers (Grade 5 = 398; Grade 6 = 393) from eight Chinese-speaking cities, and qualitative data were expert judgments collected from two primary school English teachers in Guangdong province. Two R packages “difR” and “difNLR” were used to perform five types of DIF analysis (two-parameter item response theory [2PL IRT] based Lord’s chi-square and Raju’s area tests, Mantel-Haenszel [MH], logistic regression [LR], and nonlinear regression [NLR] DIF methods) on the test scores, which altogether identified 16 DIF items. ShinyItemAnalysis package was employed to draw item characteristic curves (ICCs) for the 16 items in RStudio, which presented four different types of DIF effect. Besides, two experts identified reasons or sources for the DIF effect of four items. The study, therefore, may shed some light on the sustainable development of test fairness in the field of language testing: methodologically, a mixed-methods sequential explanatory design was adopted to guide further test fairness research using flexible methods to achieve research purposes; practically, the result indicates that DIF analysis does not necessarily imply bias. Instead, it only serves as an alarm that calls test developers’ attention to further examine the appropriateness of test items.

Intentional vocabulary learning via WhatsApp: Does the type of input matter?

Nowadays, vocabulary as an influential domain in mastering second/foreign languages has encouraged researchers to put forth conceptualizations that can substantiate the successful learning of words. This study used WhatsApp to investigate the different impacts of two input modalities (voice messages vs. written texts) on EFL learners' intentional learning and retention of words. To this end, 50 female EFL learners in two intact classes (n1=n2=25) were selected from a language institute in Khorramabad, Iran. The groups were randomly assigned to two treatment conditions. The results of a general English proficiency test verified their homogeneity at the outset. A standardized teacher-made vocabulary test assured the researchers that the words were unfamiliar to the learners. After the twelve-session treatment, which was integrated with conventional English teaching classes, another standardized vocabulary test was administered once immediately after the intervention and the second time after a two-week interval. The Friedman repeated measures analysis showed a significant difference between the pretest and posttests. However, the results of the statistical analyses showed no statistically significant differences between the participants' performances on the immediate and delayed posttests. Thus, the researchers concluded that the participants had not forgotten the words from the first to the second posttest indicating the efficacy of intentional vocabulary learning. Additionally, no significant differences were found between the two groups showing the similar impacts of the input modality. The study has implications for EFL teachers and educators whose focus is on TEFL.

CORRELATIONS OF ENGLISH WRITING COMPLEXITY, ACCURACY, FLUENCY, AND TEST SCORES: A CASE STUDY OF STANDARDIZED WRITING TEST SAMPLES

The Limited Attentional Capacity Model (LACM) (Skehan & Foster, 1997, 2001) is believed to affect the memory processing system, leading to a trade-off model between the levels of complexity, accuracy, and fluency (CAF) in writing output by EFL learners. Time may be one of the critical variables moderating EFL writers’ LACM, but few writers, least of all in the context of Taiwan, have studied the possible influence of LACM on the CAF relationship as demonstrated in timed writing,. What has not been properly investigated includes possible CAF interaction varying with Taiwanese EFL writers’ proficiency levels. This should also be examined, given the changes in the development of student writers’ skills as they learn, that is, mastering greater complexity, accuracy or fluency than before. To shed light on these aspects, the present researcher studied 150 timed writing samples created by 150 EFL test-takers who participated in the General English Proficiency Test High Intermediate. Both inferential and descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data. The research results indicate a possible shifting relationship between complexity and fluency/accuracy, suggesting that LACM impacts on Taiwanese EFL writers’ performance, mostly probably subject to the time factor, since no differences of any kind were found between the interrelationship of writing qualities and their CAF.

Acquisition of Adjective Placement by L3 Learners of English: Evidence for the L2 Status Factor

This study attempts to tease apart the effect of first (L1) and second (L2) language knowledge on the acquisition of syntactic properties of L3 English in order to test current generative theories in the field of third language acquisition (L3A). The property under investigation is adjective placement. Participants are L1 Azeri / L2 Persian, and L1 Persian learners of English as a third and second language respectively. To fulfill so, 180 bilingual and monolingual university students from Arak and Miyandoab took a general English proficiency test, a background questionnaire, and a syntactic structure test. The L3 proficiency was also considered. The data, then, were analyzed through utilization of descriptive statistics and two-way ANOVA. In relation to the hypotheses, results indicated L2 status as the determining factor in the acquisition of English adjective properties by Azeri-Persian bilinguals. Proficiency level in the L3 also proved to have a significant role. The implications of the study can be utilized in developing an educational and linguistic methodology for bilingual learners of English as an L3 in Iran.

An Investigation Of GEPT Test Anxiety For Medical University Students In Taiwan

This study examines whether or not different medical university students experience different levels of anxiety in taking the General English Proficiency Test (GEPT), and whether or not there are differences in GEPT test anxiety levels among medical university students with different genders and from different departments. This study uses a GEPT test anxiety scale (GEPT-TAS) to explore the GEPT test anxiety levels of the students. The final questionnaire included 36 questions, covering the cognitive, emotional, and affective dimensions of test anxiety. Several conclusions can be made from the findings of this study. First, medical university students experience certain levels of GEPT test anxiety. Second, females experience more emotional anxiety than males. Third, nursing students experience more cognitive anxiety than students from other departments.

Anxiety of university students in Taiwan about the General English Proficiency Test

In this study we examined whether or not university students in Taiwan experience anxiety when taking the General English Proficiency Test (GEPT), and whether there are differences in GEPT anxiety levels among students according to gender and/or personality. We developed a GEPT test anxiety scale (GEPT-TAS) to explore the anxiety levels of university students. The final questionnaire included 36 questions, covering the cognitive, emotional, and affective dimensions of test anxiety. Several conclusions can be drawn from the findings of this study. First, university students do experience GEPT test anxiety. Second, females experience more emotional anxiety than do males. Third, students who are inclined to be introverted tend to experience more anxiety compared with students inclined to be extroverted.