DOCUMENT RESUME ED 331 284 FL 019 122 AUTHOR Douglas, Dan, Ed. TITLE English Language Testing in U.S. Colleges and Universities. INSTITUTION National Association for Foreign Student Affairs, Washington, D.C. SPONS AGENCY United States information Agency, Washington, DC. Advisory, Teaching, and Specialized Programs Div. REPORT NO /SBN-0-912207-56-6 PUB DATE 90 NOTE 106p. PUB TYPE Collected Works - General (020) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC05 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Admission Criteria; College Admission; *English (Second Language); Foreign Countries; *Foreign Students; Higher Education; *Language Tests; Questionnaires; Second Language Programs; Standardized Tests; Surveys; *Teaching Assistants; *Test Interpretation; Test Results; Writing (Composition); Writing Tests IDENTIFIERS United Kingdom ABSTRACT A collection of essays and research reports addresses issues in the testing of English as a Second Language (ESL) among foreign students in United States colleges and universities. They include the following: "Overview of ESL Testing" (Ralph Pat Barrett); "English Language Testing: The View from the Admissions Office" (G. James Haas); "English Language Testing: The View from the English Teaching Program" (Paul J. Angelis); "Standardized ESL Tests Used in U.S. Colleges and Universities" (Harold S. Madsen); "British Tests of English as a Foreign Language" (J. Charles Alderson); "ESL Composition Testing" (Jane Hughey); "The Testing and Evaluation of International Teaching Assistants" (Barbara S. Plakans, Roberta G. Abraham); and "Interpreting Test Scores" (Grant Henning). Appended materials include addresses for use in obtaining information about English language testing, and the questionnaire used in a survey of higher education institutions, reported in one of the articles. 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INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)." ment do nol necessarily represent olticiat OE RI position or policy ,4Y:44 FST COPY AVM! ABLE _ ENGLISH LANGUAGE TESTING IN U.S. COLLEGES AND UNIVERSMES Edited by Dan Douglas National Association for Foreign Student Affairs Washington, DC I s t.I The NationalAssociation for Foreign Student Affairs (NAFSA)is a nonprofit membership organizationthat provides training, tional services information, and othereduca- to professionals in the fieldof international Its 6,100 membersfrom educational exthange. every state in the United Statesand more than 50 other countriesmakeit the largest professional membership associationin the world concerned withthe advancement of effective internationaleducational exchange. Membersrepresent primarily colleges and universities butalso ele- mentary and secondaryschools, public anu piivate educationalassociations, exchange organizations,national and international tions, and community corporations and founda- organizations. Throughits publications, consultations with workshops, institutions, and conferences,the association source of professional training, serves as a a reference for standards ofperformance, andan advocate for themost effective operation of international educationalexchange. Support for thispublicationwas provided by the Advising, Specialized Programs Teaching, and Division of the U.S.Information Agency. Copies of this publicationmay be ordered from the National Association for Publications Order Desk, ibreip Student Affairs,1860 19th Street, N.W, Washington, D.C. 20009 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publiabion Data English language testing in U.S. collegesand universities Douglas. / edited by Dan p. cm. Includes bibliographicalreferences. ISI3N 0-912207-56-6 1. English languageForeign SpeakersAbility testing. 2. English languageStudyand teaching 3. English languageStudy (Higher)Foreign speakers. and teaching(Higher)United States. 4. Universities and collegtsUnitedStatesExaminations. I. Douglas, Dan. PE1128.A2E541990 428' .0076dc20 90-36384 CH' (e.1990 by the National Association for filreibmStudent Affairs. All rights reserved.Printed in the UnitedStates of America. Contents PREFACE OVERVIEW OF ESL TESTING Ralph Pat Barrett 1 EMUS! i LANGUAGE TEM ZIG: THE VIEW FROM THE ADMISSIONS OFFICE G. lanws Haas 9 ENGI.1811 LANGUAGE TESTING: THE VIEW FROM THEENGLISH TEACHINt; PROGRAM 3 Paul I. Angelis 19 STANDAMIZED ESL TEsis UswIN U.S. COLLEGES ANDUNI- VERSI TIES Harold S. Madsen 27 EIRrnsHTESIS OF ENGLISI1As A FOREIGN LANGUAGE 5 I. Charles Akkrson 41 ESL ComPOSITIONTESTING 6 lane Huglwy 51 IE TESTING AND EVALUATION OF INTERNATIONAL TEACHING ASSISTANTS 7 Barbara S. Plakans and Roberta G. Abraham 68 INTERPRETING TESTSCORES 8 Grant Henning 82 REFERENCES 91 Appendix A Addresses for Information on English Language Testing 95 Appendix 13 ESL Composition Test Questionnaire 97 Preface This book is intended for those working with internationalstudents on U.S. college and university campuses who need tc betterunderstand testing practices and uses, and the meaning of English language test scores.Admissions officers, international student counsellors and advisers, and instructorsin intensive English programs, remedial English as a second language(ESL) courses, or freshman composition courses will find information about theneed for English language tests, the types of tests available, the establishmentof testing and evaluation programs, and the interpretation of test results. The book has been written for people whose primary interest is:n making correct decisions about the admission,placement, and instruction of interna- tional students, rather than for people whose primary interestis in English language testing itself. Therefore, technical jargon,theoretical issues, and statisti- cal intricacies have been kept to a minimum. The aimhas been to provide a sensible and practical reference work that can be consultedrapidly by those who need information about a paMcular problem, or readthrough when the goal is to obtain a fuller picture of language testingpractice. The book begins with an overview of Englishlanguage testing in U.S. colleges and universities by Ralph Pat Barrett, of MichiganState University. He outlines the major considerations in the testing andevaluation of the English language skills of international students: the functionsof testing, the types of tests, and the strengths and limitationsof language tests. This introductory chapter is followed by one written by a university admissionsofficer with more than 20 years experience in the evaluation ofinternational applications. G. James Haas, of Indiana University. though not alanguage testing expert, writes in a pragmatic manner of the concerns,problems. and practices of admissions officers in dealing appropriately with information aboutthe English language skills of international applicants. He considers the setting of admission standards, someunreliable sources of information on English language proficiency, the interpretationof standard score reports (such as those fromEducational Testing Service or the University of Michigan English Language Institute), and problemswith unusual reports. such r '-4-1 PREFACE as some from outside the United States. Haas provides specific, down-to-earth advice in such areas as allowing for margins of error in Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) scores, using a rule-of-thumb for converting Michi- gan Test Battery scores to a TOEFL scale, and dealing with applicants who submit no English language test scores at all. In Chapter Three, Paul J. Angelis, of Southern Illinois University takes a pragmatic approach, in much the same vein as Haas, in discussing specific issues for on-campus English language testing concerning the placement of students in intensive English programs, remedial ESL classes, or non-ESL university classes. He considers the problems of decid- ing who should be tested on campus, which language skills need to be tested, and how a testing program can be structured. Chapters Four and Five contain critical overviews of standardized English language tests available in the United States and the United Kingdom, respectively. Harold S. Madsen, of Brigham Young University, reviews the major U.S. profi- ciency tests, such as the TOEFL, MELAB, and CELT, and specialized tests for such purposes as measuring spoken English proficiency and writing pmficiency Madsen offers not only a description of each of the tests but also an evaluation, summarizing strengths and weaknesses. J. Charles Alderson, of the University of Lancaster, provides an informative discussion of tests of English proficiency in the United Kingdom, such as the British Council ELTS and the Cambridge Certificate of Proficiency in English. He makes clear some of the differences in testing practice between the United States and the United Kingdom and establishes