The Cognitive Validity of Child English Language Tests
What Young Language Learners and Their Native‐Speaking Peers Can Reveal
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 10818596 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Paula Winke (0000-0002-8169-650X, Michigan State University East Lansing Michigan United States), Shinhye Lee (0000-0002-8149-9610, Michigan State University East Lansing Michigan United States), Jieun Irene Ahn (Michigan State University East Lansing Michigan United States), Jieun Ahn (0000-0002-3871-4178, Michigan United), Ina Choi (Michigan State University East Lansing Michigan United States), Yaqiong Cui (0000-0002-2762-402X, Michigan State University East Lansing Michigan United States), Hyung‐Jo Yoon (0000-0002-8553-3708, California State University Northridge California United States) |
| Year | 2018 |
| Volume | 52 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 274-303 |
| Publication date | 2018-06-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | TESOL Quarterly (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0039-8322 • E-ISSN: 1545-7249 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1002/tesq.396 |
| OpenAlex | W2739280547 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 13 |
| References cited | 17 |
This study investigated the cognitive validity of two child English language tests. Some teachers maintain that these types of tests may be cognitively invalid because native‐English‐speaking children would not do well on them (Winke, 2011). So the researchers had native speakers and learners of English aged 7 to 9 take sample versions of two standardized English reading and writing tests: the Young Learners Tests of English, Bronze and Silver, administered by Cambridge Michigan Language Assessments. They videotaped the children taking the tests, had them draw pictures of how they felt during testing, and interviewed them. The tests reliably discriminated learners from native speakers. However, 3 of 25 items on the Bronze test and 5 of 40 on the Silver test proved more difficult for native speakers than for language learners. The researchers interviewed the children to uncover why; incorrect responses stemmed from lack of assessment literacy or age‐related cognitive limitations, not deficits in English. The researchers discuss whether this is a problem and conclude that standardized language tests for children, even those already psychometrically reliable and valid, can be improved upon by interviewing child test takers. They stress that parallel information from same‐age, native‐English‐speaking peers is informative in revealing construct‐irrelevant variance
Cognition · Construct validity · Developmental psychology · Language assessment · Linguistics · Literacy · Mathematics education · Pedagogy · Psychometrics · Reading (process) · Test (biology) · Educational and Psychological Assessments · EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning · Psychology · Reading and Literacy Development
Transparency with Second Language and Multilingual Transcription
Assessment for Young Learners
Mapping metacognitive genre awareness with L1 and L2 writers
A comparative study of L2 language development in d/Deaf and hard of hearing and hearing secondary learners
Validation of a multiple-choice implicature test
Investigating connections between teacher identity and pedagogy in a content-based classroom
A social justice research agenda for multilingual assessment in diverse educational contexts
Reflecting on assessing young foreign language learners
Test-taker insights for language assessment policies and practices
A look into the practices and challenges of assessing young EFL learners’ writing in Croatia
Development and validation of a Chinese character acquisition assessment for second-language kindergarteners
Young learners’ voices
Studies on pre-primary learners of foreign languages, their teachers, and parents
Educational measurement.
Language Testing and Validation
English Learners Left Behind
Validating the Interpretations and Uses of Test Scores
The cognitive processing of candidates during reading tests
An oral interview procedure for assessing second language abilities in children
The acquisition of articles in child second language English
Evaluating the Validity of a High‐Stakes ESL Test
A General Inductive Approach for Analyzing Qualitative Evaluation Data
| Unique citing works | 13 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2,17 |
| Citation span | 2020 - 2026 (7) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 12 |