Validity of the English Placement Test at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Krokhmal, Anna

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/120271 Copy

Description

Title

Validity of the English Placement Test at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Author(s)

Krokhmal, Anna

Issue Date

2023-04-17

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Yan, Xun

Department of Study

Linguistics

Discipline

Teaching of English Sec Lang

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

M.A.

Degree Level

Thesis

Keyword(s)

• face validity
• predictive validity
• placement test
• ESL

Abstract

This study investigates predictive and face validity of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in-house English Placement Test using students’ and instructors’ perception data regarding the test and the ESL academic writing courses offered by the University. For this investigation, anonymous survey responses have been collected from 99 international students and 21 ESL Program instructors who have taken/taught ESL academic writing courses at the University. The results of the study indicate that the English Placement Test has a limited predictive ability of students’ self-perceived writing skills which was only observed in graduate student courses. It has been also found that both students and instructors find ESL academic writing courses generally useful and are generally satisfied with the EPT while also suggesting ideas for improvement of the ESL curriculum and the test itself. The study provides valuable information for the ESL Program that could help improve both instructors’ and international students’ experience with academic writing at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Graduation Semester

2023-05

Type of Resource

Thesis

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2023 Anna Krokhmal

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