Constructvalidationof the united nations associationtest of English (unate) level a test and its implicationsfor further developmentof the test
Moriyama, Yasuyo
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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/125912
Description
Title
Constructvalidationof the united nations associationtest of English (unate) level a test and its implicationsfor further developmentof the test
Author(s)
Moriyama, Yasuyo
Issue Date
1995
Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)
Davidson, Fred
Department of Study
Linguistics
Discipline
English as an International Language
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
M.A.
Degree Level
Thesis
Keyword(s)
Teaching English as Second Language
English Proficiency Test
Reading Comprehension
Test Development
Language
eng
Abstract
The United Nations Association Test of English (UNATE) Level A test is an English proficiency test administered in Japan twice a year. UNATE is used not only as a proficiency test for learners of English in Japan in general but also as a selection test for screening Japanese trainees to the United Nations on the Associate Expert Program organized by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Accordingly, the test partly includes items designed to assess test taker's performance in the UN context. The influence of the UNATE on EFL in Japan is becoming greater year by year, and the decisions made based on the results of the test is of paramount importance. However, virtually no construct validation of the test has been conducted to date.
In this study the nature of the reading comprehension items on the UNATE Level A Day One written test and the effect of background knowledge on UN issues on these items were investigated, utilizing expert content analysis and experimental procedure. The results of the content analysis showed that the items tended to focus on measuring the test taker's knowledge on syntax and lexis on specific topics. Moreover, the experimental study indicated that the test taker's background knowledge on a particular UN related topic as defined in this study did not significantly affect his/her performance on these items.
The results of the present study suggest that investigation of inter-passage consistency, clarification of the skills being tested on the items and a priori investigation of the 'quality' of the items are critical components of the UNATE test development process.
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