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Current Trends in English Language Testing. Conference Proceedings for CTELT 1997 and 1998, Vol DOCUMENT RESUME ED 428 574 FL 025 773 AUTHOR Coombe, Christine A., Ed. TITLE Current Trends in English Language Testing. Conference Proceedings for CTELT 1997 and 1998, Vol. 1. INSTITUTION TESOL Arabia. PUB DATE 1998-10-00 NOTE 194p. PUB TYPE Collected Works Proceedings (021) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC08 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Cloze Procedure; College Second Language Programs; Comparative Analysis; Computer Assisted Testing; Copyrights; Distance Education; Educational Trends; *English for Academic Purposes; *English (Second Language); Foreign Countries; Higher Education; Internet; *Language Proficiency; *Language Tests; Learning Motivation; Listening Comprehension Tests; Oral Language; Program Descriptions; Reading Tests; Second Language Instruction; Student Developed Materials; Teacher Role; Test Construction; Test Use; *Testing Programs; Trend Analysis; Verbal Tests; Vocabulary IDENTIFIERS International English Language Testing System; Oman; Preliminary Test of English as a Foreign Language; Saudi Arabia; Test of English as a Foreign Language; United Arab Emirates ABSTRACT Papers from the 1997 and 1998 Current Trends in English Language Testing (CTELT) conferences include: "Computer-Based Language Testing: The Call of the Internet" (G. Fulcher); "Uses of the PET (Preliminary English Test) at Sultan Qaboos University"(R. Taylor); "Issues in Foreign and Second Language Academic Listening Assessment" (C. Coombe, J. Kinney, C. Canning); "Saudi Development and Training's Five Star Proficiency Test Project"(J. Pollard); "Test Writing for UAE Distance Learning Students" (L. Barlow, C. Canning); "Student Created Tests as Motivation to Learning" (P. Cozens); "Student Errors--To Use or Not To Use? That Is the Question"(J. Eadie, A. Abdel-Fattah, H. Guefrachi); "The Impact of High-Stakes Testing on Teaching and Learning" (D. Wall); "Myths of Testing and the Icons of PET, TOEFL and IELTS" (G. Tennent); "Copyright Infringement: What Are the Legal Rights of Educators as Test Writers?"(C. Canning); "C-Testing: A Theory Yet To Be Proved"(N. McBeath); "Why Teacher, That's Your Job"(P. Cozens); "Computer Generated Visuals and Reading Texts"(C. Canning, L. Barlow, C. Kawar); and "How Different Examination Boards Present Vocabulary" (K. Aldred). (MSE) ******************************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ******************************************************************************** 76SO4 /1RrI7,4 Testing Special Interest Group CURRENT TRENDS IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TESTING Conference Proceedings for CTELT 1997 and 1998 Vol. I Editor: Christine A. Coombe Al-Ain, United Arab Emirates October 1998 PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS Office of Educational Research and Improvement BEEN GRANTED BY EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) \This document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization 0ne- originating it. 0 Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality. TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES 2 INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) oPoints ot view or Opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy. BEST COPY AVAILABLE FROM THE EDITOR This volume presents a collection of papers delivered at the 1997 and 1998 Current Trends in English Language Testing Conferences. The papers address a variety of issues of direct relevance to the EFL/ESL teacher and tester. I feel that we have an excellent representation of the comprehensive range of presentation content and style which make the CTELT Conference so valuable for its participants. Several people have assisted at various stages in the production of this volume and this project could not have been completed without their support. To the following people I express my sincere thanks and gratitude: The United Arab Emirates University General Requirements Unit, for their continued financial assistance and support of CTELT; the TESOL Arabia Executive Council for their financial assistance and R.S. Pillai for his careful typing and formatting of this manuscript. Special thanks go to the sixteen authors who contributed papers and made this volume possible.Their papers represent an important contribution to the teaching and testing of EFL in the Arab World. 1997 CTELT CONFERENCE CONTENTS Page Computer-Based Language Testing: The Call of the Internet Keynote Address G. Fulcher 1 Uses of the Pet (Preliminary English Test) at Sultan Qaboos University R. Taylor 15 Issues in Foreign and Second Language Academic Listening Assessment C. Coombe, J. Kinney and C. Canning 27 Saudi Development and Training's Five Star Proficiency Test Project J. Pollard Paper I:Interaction as a Construct of Oral Proficiency 37 Paper II: The Influence of Assessor Training on Rater-as- interlocutor Behaviour during a Computer- Resourced Oral Proficiency Interview-cum- Discussion (OPI/D) known as the "Five Star Test" 48 Test Writing for UAE Distance Learning Students L. Barlow and C. Canning 58 Student Created Tests as Motivation to Learning P. Cozens 73 "Student Errorsto Use or Not to Use? That is the Question" J. Eadie, A. Abdel-Fattah and H. Guetrachl 81 APPENDIX: The First Annual CTELT Conference Abstracts 89 4 1998 CTELT CONFERENCE CONTENTS Page The Impact of High-Stakes Testing on Teaching and Learning Keynote Address D. Wall 98 Myths of Testing and the Icons of PET, TOEFL and IELTS G. Tennent 116 Copyright Infringement: What are the Legal Rights of Educators as Test Writers? C. Canning 121 C-Testing: A Theory Yet to be Proved N. McBeath 130 Why Teacher, That's Your Job P. Cozens 144 Computer Generated Visuals and Reading Texts C. Canning, L. Barlow and C. Kawar 157 How Different Examination Boards Present Vocabulary K. Aldred 165 APPENDIX: The Second Annual CTELT 174 Conference Abstracts Computer-Based Language Testing: The Call of the Internet GLENN FULCHER University of Surrey Abstract This paper presents a brief overview of concerns in computer based test delivery. It does not attempt to be exhaustive in its review, but to select and discuss key issues and concepts, exemplified by representative examples. Against the background of the general development of computer based tests (CBTs) and computer adaptive tests (CATs), the advantages and disadvan- tages of using the internet for test delivery are explored. Some aspects of internet delivery are highlighted as problematic, either from a technical or measurement perspective, but it is argued that with continued research, the use of this medium will introduce a revolution in test delivery and (at a later stage) test design. 1. Introduction Since the first book on computerised language testing was produced in 1970 (Holtzman, 1970), the number of software products on the market has grown almost as quickly as the number of journal articles on the subject. The two concerns of the discussion in the literature is, for the most part, related to what technology can offer the test designer or developer, and the equivalence of paper-and-pencil and computer delivered tests. The former focus reflects primarily an interest in technology as technology, and the way in which it can speed up the work of language test design and development. This is not surprising, given the rapid changes in computer technology, and the ever-increasing range and availability of software. Only 9 years ago, Bunderson, Inouye and Olsen, (1989: 367-268) wrote: "The computer revolution has been marked by the growth in power and sophistication of computing resources. The computing power of yesterday's mainframes is routinely surpassed by today's supermicros. Yesterday's ENIAC computer, which filled an entire room, was less powerful than the current generation of microcomputers, which fit on a desktop." It is only when placing this next to another quotation from the same paper (Bunderson et al. 1989: 371) that we realise how fast technology is in fact changing: "The memory capacity of most modern delivery systems is evolving rapidly. Most microcomputer workstations now have 1/2 to 2 megabytes of random access memory. Future workstations will use even larger amounts of random access memory. The early, expensive, mass-storage devices are being replaced by inexpensive, high-density, magnetic and opto-electronic devices. Hard-disk storage exceeding 100 megabytes per workstation is becoming more common." 1 These quotations make it clear that any discussion of hardware, memory size, and processing capacity will inevitably be out of date within a few years, if not months, of being written. We must simply assume that the constant development, availability and use of larger and faster computers will be the norm for the foreseeable future. The latter focus on test equivalence, reflects the fact that many computer based tests (CBTs) grow out of paper-and-pencil tests which already exist. The paper-and-pencil version usually pre-dates the CBT by some years, and subsequent forms constructed and monitored to be interpretable in the light of established norms. For this reason, it is critical that equivalence be demonstrated across the delivery mediym. 2. Background: The Use of Computers In Testing 2.1 The Lure of Technology In a recent review of the role of technology in language testing, Burstein, Frase, Ginther and Grant (1996), isolated eight areas in which computers are now used in language testing. These may be summarised as: Test design: the exchange of written and graphic materials between test
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