Lyle F Bachman
Biographic Data
| ID | 1424973 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Lyle F Bachman |
| GIVEN NAMES | Lyle F |
| FAMILY NAME | Bachman |
| SIGNATURE | BACHMAN L F |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of California, Los Angeles |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 28 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 69 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 28 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1981 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2019 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
A Habilidade comunicativa de linguagem
O trabalho propõe um quadro de referência para a descrição da habilidade comunicativa de linguagem. A habilidade comunicativa de linguagem consiste em competência lingüística, competência estratégica e mecanismos psicofisiológicos. A competência lingüística inclui competência organizacional, que consiste em competência gramatical e textual, e em competência pragmática, que consiste em competência ilocucionária e sociolingüística. A competência es…
An investigation of four writing traits and two tasks across two languages
This study investigated the validity of four theoretically motivated traits of writing ability across English and Korean, based on elementary school students’ responses to letter- and story-writing tasks. Their responses were scored analytically and analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis. The findings include the following. A model of writing ability that includes the influence of four primary trait factors (grammar, content, spelling, and t…
Strategies Used in Taking a Computer-Based Speaking Test
This study investigated the strategies used by examinees when performing a computer-based speaking test. The data were collected from nine university students through a retrospective interview. The results showed that the examinees used several strategies, ranging from goal setting, assessment, planning to communication strategies. These strategies seemed to be associated with the constructs the CBST aimed to measure. It can be concluded that the…
Building and Supporting a Case for Test Use
The fields of language testing and educational and psychological measurement have not, as yet, developed a set of principles and procedures for linking test scores and score-based inferences to test use and the consequences of test use. Although Messick (1989) discusses test use and consequences, his framework provides virtually no guidance on how to go about investigating these in the course of practical test development. Argument-based formulat…
Statistical Analyses for Language Assessment
This book enables practitioners to apply statistics effectively to the development and use of language assessments. The Workbook and CD contain datasets from actual language assessments and data analysis exercises.
Some reflections on task-based language performance assessment
The complexities of task-based language performance assessment (TBLPA) are leading language testers to reconsider many of the fundamental issues about what we want to assess, how we go about it and what sorts of evidence we need to provide in order to justify the ways in which we use our assessments. One claim of TBLPA is that such assessments can be used to make predictions about performance on future language use tasks outside the test itself. …
Modern language testing at the turn of the century
In the past twenty years, language testing research and practice have witnessed the refinement of a rich variety of approaches and tools for research and development, along with a broadening of philosophical perspectives and the kinds of research questions that are being investigated. While this research has deepened our understanding of the factors and processes that affect performance on language tests, as well as of the consequences and ethics…
A latent variable approach to listening and reading
This study investigated the factorial distinctness of two receptive language skills, reading and listening, and the equivalence of factor structure across two groups using simultaneous multigroup covariance structure analyses. The subjects were two groups of students from grades two, three and four, enrolled in the Korean/English Two-Way Immersion Program in the Los Angeles Unified School District: Korean-American students and non-Korean-American…
The use of test method characteristics in the content analysis and design of EFL proficiency tests
Content considerations are widely viewed to be essential in the design of language tests, and evidence of content relevance and coverage provides an important component in the validation of score interpretations. Content analysis can be viewed as the application of a model of test design to a particular measurement instrument, using judgements of trained analysts. Following Bachman (1990), a content analysis of test method characteristics and com…
Investigating variability in tasks and rater judgements in a performance test of foreign language speaking
Much of the recent debate that has surrounded the development and use of 'performance', or 'communicative' language tests has focused on a supposed trade-off between two sets of desirable qualities: correspondence between test tasks and test performance to nontest language use for content relevance; and reliability of scores derived from test performance. One area that has been of particular concern with performance tests is the potential variabi…
Differential item functioning on two tests of EFL proficiency
An investigation into the adequacy of three IRT models for data from two EFL reading tests
An exploratory study into the construct validity of a reading comprehension test
Recent research in reading comprehension has focused on the processes of reading, while recent thinking in language testing has recognized the impor tance of gathering information on test taking processes as part of construct validation. And while there is a growing body of research on test-taking strate gies in language testing, as well as research into the relationship between item content and item performance, no research to date has attempted…
What Does Language Testing Have to Offer
Advances in language testing in the past decade have occurred in three areas: (a) the development of a theoretical view that considers language ability to be multicomponential and recognizes the influence of the test method and test taker characteristics on test performance, (b) applications of more sophisticated measurement and statistical tools, and (c) the development of communicative language tests that incorporate principles of communicative…
Recent Publications on Statistics, Language Testing, and Quantitative Research Methods
Peer Reviewed
The Divisibility of Language Competence
The purpose of this study was to investigate the nature of second language proficiency with respect to its divisibility and components. Specifically, the correlated-traits and the second-order hypotheses were evaluated using 334 university students learning Englishasa second language, a wide range of language proficiency measures, and confirmatory data-analytic techniques. The focus was to determine the extent to which each model represented the …
Assessment and Evaluation
Research and development in the assessment of language abilities in the past decade have been concerned both with achieving a better understanding of the nature of language abilities and other factors that affect performance on language tests and with developing methods of assessment that are consistent with the way applied linguists view language use. The way language testers conceptualize language abilities has been strongly influenced by the b…
The construct validation of self-ratings of communicative language ability
The trait structure of an experimental self-rating test of communicative language ability was investigated through the use of MTMM design and CFA procedure. The language abilities we attempted to measure comprised three main traits: grammatical competence, pragmatic competence, and socio linguistic competence. Three different question types were used. The subjects were 116 non-native English speakers from the Salt Lake City area. The results of t…
Response to Henning
Language Testing-SLA Research Interfaces
Language testing [LT] research and second language acquisition [SLA] research are often seen as distinct areas of inquiry in applied linguistics. To oversimplify slightly, SLA research takes a longitudinal view, concerning itself primarily with the description and explanation of how second language proficiency develops, while LT research typically observes a “slice of life”, and attempts to arrive at a more or less static description of language …
Th Annual LTRC Programme
Task and ability analysis as a basis for examining content and construct comparability in two EFL proficiency test batteries
This paper describes the content analysis undertaken as part of the Cambridge- TOEFL comparability study, the purpose of which is to examine the compara bility of two EFL test batteries
The Measurement of Foreign/Second Language Proficiency
Based on and synthesizing recent advances in both psychometric procedures and communicatively oriented linguistic analysis, a theoretical framework for describing factors affecting performance on foreign/second language tests is presented. Included within this framework are both test method factors—such as the testing environment, the nature of the instructions to the examinee, and the stimulus and response modalities represented in the test—and …
The Evaluation of Communicative Language Proficiency
Performance on Cloze Tests with Fixed-Ratio and Rational Deletions
Although research on the cloze test has offered differing evidence regarding what language abilities it measures, there is a general consensus among researchers that not all the deletions in a given cloze passage measure exactly the same abilities. An important issue for test developers, therefore, is the extent to which it is possible to design cloze tests that measure specific abilities. Two cloze tests were prepared from the same text. In one,…
The Construct Validation of Some Components of Communicative Proficiency
The notion of communicative competence has received wide attention in the past few years, and numerous attempts have been made to define it. Canale and Swain (1980) have reviewed these attempts and have developed a framework which defines several hypothesized components of communicative competence and makes the implicit claim that tests of components of communicative competence measure different abilities. In this study we examine the construct v…
Performance on Cloze Tests with Fixed-Ratio and Rational Deletions
Although research on the cloze test has offered differing evidence regarding what language abilities it measures, there is a general consensus among researchers that not all the deletions in a given cloze passage measure exactly the same abilities. An important issue for test developers, therefore, is the extent to which it is possible to design cloze tests that measure specific abilities. Two cloze tests were prepared from the same text. In one,…
The Construct Validation of the Fsi Oral Interview1
The validation of oral language proficiency tests has long been problematical. The most common approaches to this problem have involved concurrent validation procedures for relating "indirect" measures to so-called "direct" measures. The most frequently used criterion in such studies has been the Foreign Service Institute (FSI) oral interview. In validating the FSI interview itself, however, criterion-referenced procedures are not possible since …
The Trait Structure of Cloze Test Scores
Although there is considerable evidence supporting the predictive validity of cloze tests, recent research into the construct validity of cloze tests has produced differing results. Chihara et al. (1977) con-cluded that cloze tests are sensitive to discourse constraints across sentences, while Alderson (1979) concluded that cloze tests measure only lower-order skills. Anderson (1980) has concluded that cloze tests measure sensitivity to both cohe…
The Measurement of Foreign/Second Language Proficiency
Based on and synthesizing recent advances in both psychometric procedures and communicatively oriented linguistic analysis, a theoretical framework for describing factors affecting performance on foreign/second language tests is presented. Included within this framework are both test method factors—such as the testing environment, the nature of the instructions to the examinee, and the stimulus and response modalities represented in the test—and …
What Does Language Testing Have to Offer
Advances in language testing in the past decade have occurred in three areas: (a) the development of a theoretical view that considers language ability to be multicomponential and recognizes the influence of the test method and test taker characteristics on test performance, (b) applications of more sophisticated measurement and statistical tools, and (c) the development of communicative language tests that incorporate principles of communicative…
The Divisibility of Language Competence
The purpose of this study was to investigate the nature of second language proficiency with respect to its divisibility and components. Specifically, the correlated-traits and the second-order hypotheses were evaluated using 334 university students learning Englishasa second language, a wide range of language proficiency measures, and confirmatory data-analytic techniques. The focus was to determine the extent to which each model represented the …
The Construct Validation of the Fsi Oral Interview1
The validation of oral language proficiency tests has long been problematical. The most common approaches to this problem have involved concurrent validation procedures for relating "indirect" measures to so-called "direct" measures. The most frequently used criterion in such studies has been the Foreign Service Institute (FSI) oral interview. In validating the FSI interview itself, however, criterion-referenced procedures are not possible since …
The Construct Validation of Some Components of Communicative Proficiency
The notion of communicative competence has received wide attention in the past few years, and numerous attempts have been made to define it. Canale and Swain (1980) have reviewed these attempts and have developed a framework which defines several hypothesized components of communicative competence and makes the implicit claim that tests of components of communicative competence measure different abilities. In this study we examine the construct v…
The Trait Structure of Cloze Test Scores
Although there is considerable evidence supporting the predictive validity of cloze tests, recent research into the construct validity of cloze tests has produced differing results. Chihara et al. (1977) con-cluded that cloze tests are sensitive to discourse constraints across sentences, while Alderson (1979) concluded that cloze tests measure only lower-order skills. Anderson (1980) has concluded that cloze tests measure sensitivity to both cohe…
Performance on Cloze Tests with Fixed-Ratio and Rational Deletions
Although research on the cloze test has offered differing evidence regarding what language abilities it measures, there is a general consensus among researchers that not all the deletions in a given cloze passage measure exactly the same abilities. An important issue for test developers, therefore, is the extent to which it is possible to design cloze tests that measure specific abilities. Two cloze tests were prepared from the same text. In one,…
The Evaluation of Communicative Language Proficiency
The Measurement of Foreign/Second Language Proficiency
Based on and synthesizing recent advances in both psychometric procedures and communicatively oriented linguistic analysis, a theoretical framework for describing factors affecting performance on foreign/second language tests is presented. Included within this framework are both test method factors—such as the testing environment, the nature of the instructions to the examinee, and the stimulus and response modalities represented in the test—and …
Language Testing-SLA Research Interfaces
Language testing [LT] research and second language acquisition [SLA] research are often seen as distinct areas of inquiry in applied linguistics. To oversimplify slightly, SLA research takes a longitudinal view, concerning itself primarily with the description and explanation of how second language proficiency develops, while LT research typically observes a “slice of life”, and attempts to arrive at a more or less static description of language …
Th Annual LTRC Programme
Task and ability analysis as a basis for examining content and construct comparability in two EFL proficiency test batteries
This paper describes the content analysis undertaken as part of the Cambridge- TOEFL comparability study, the purpose of which is to examine the compara bility of two EFL test batteries
Assessment and Evaluation
Research and development in the assessment of language abilities in the past decade have been concerned both with achieving a better understanding of the nature of language abilities and other factors that affect performance on language tests and with developing methods of assessment that are consistent with the way applied linguists view language use. The way language testers conceptualize language abilities has been strongly influenced by the b…
The construct validation of self-ratings of communicative language ability
The trait structure of an experimental self-rating test of communicative language ability was investigated through the use of MTMM design and CFA procedure. The language abilities we attempted to measure comprised three main traits: grammatical competence, pragmatic competence, and socio linguistic competence. Three different question types were used. The subjects were 116 non-native English speakers from the Salt Lake City area. The results of t…
Response to Henning
Recent Publications on Statistics, Language Testing, and Quantitative Research Methods
Peer Reviewed
The Divisibility of Language Competence
The purpose of this study was to investigate the nature of second language proficiency with respect to its divisibility and components. Specifically, the correlated-traits and the second-order hypotheses were evaluated using 334 university students learning Englishasa second language, a wide range of language proficiency measures, and confirmatory data-analytic techniques. The focus was to determine the extent to which each model represented the …
An exploratory study into the construct validity of a reading comprehension test
Recent research in reading comprehension has focused on the processes of reading, while recent thinking in language testing has recognized the impor tance of gathering information on test taking processes as part of construct validation. And while there is a growing body of research on test-taking strate gies in language testing, as well as research into the relationship between item content and item performance, no research to date has attempted…
What Does Language Testing Have to Offer
Advances in language testing in the past decade have occurred in three areas: (a) the development of a theoretical view that considers language ability to be multicomponential and recognizes the influence of the test method and test taker characteristics on test performance, (b) applications of more sophisticated measurement and statistical tools, and (c) the development of communicative language tests that incorporate principles of communicative…
Differential item functioning on two tests of EFL proficiency
An investigation into the adequacy of three IRT models for data from two EFL reading tests
Investigating variability in tasks and rater judgements in a performance test of foreign language speaking
Much of the recent debate that has surrounded the development and use of 'performance', or 'communicative' language tests has focused on a supposed trade-off between two sets of desirable qualities: correspondence between test tasks and test performance to nontest language use for content relevance; and reliability of scores derived from test performance. One area that has been of particular concern with performance tests is the potential variabi…
The use of test method characteristics in the content analysis and design of EFL proficiency tests
Content considerations are widely viewed to be essential in the design of language tests, and evidence of content relevance and coverage provides an important component in the validation of score interpretations. Content analysis can be viewed as the application of a model of test design to a particular measurement instrument, using judgements of trained analysts. Following Bachman (1990), a content analysis of test method characteristics and com…
A latent variable approach to listening and reading
This study investigated the factorial distinctness of two receptive language skills, reading and listening, and the equivalence of factor structure across two groups using simultaneous multigroup covariance structure analyses. The subjects were two groups of students from grades two, three and four, enrolled in the Korean/English Two-Way Immersion Program in the Los Angeles Unified School District: Korean-American students and non-Korean-American…
Modern language testing at the turn of the century
In the past twenty years, language testing research and practice have witnessed the refinement of a rich variety of approaches and tools for research and development, along with a broadening of philosophical perspectives and the kinds of research questions that are being investigated. While this research has deepened our understanding of the factors and processes that affect performance on language tests, as well as of the consequences and ethics…
Some reflections on task-based language performance assessment
The complexities of task-based language performance assessment (TBLPA) are leading language testers to reconsider many of the fundamental issues about what we want to assess, how we go about it and what sorts of evidence we need to provide in order to justify the ways in which we use our assessments. One claim of TBLPA is that such assessments can be used to make predictions about performance on future language use tasks outside the test itself. …
Statistical Analyses for Language Assessment
This book enables practitioners to apply statistics effectively to the development and use of language assessments. The Workbook and CD contain datasets from actual language assessments and data analysis exercises.
Building and Supporting a Case for Test Use
The fields of language testing and educational and psychological measurement have not, as yet, developed a set of principles and procedures for linking test scores and score-based inferences to test use and the consequences of test use. Although Messick (1989) discusses test use and consequences, his framework provides virtually no guidance on how to go about investigating these in the course of practical test development. Argument-based formulat…
Psychology (26 works) · EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning (18 works) · Linguistics (16 works) · Computer Science (15 works) · Mathematics education (12 works) · Developmental psychology (10 works) · Language assessment (10 works) · Philosophy (8 works) · Psychometrics (8 works) · Social Psychology (8 works)