Evaluating the TOEFL Junior^® Standard Test as a Measure of Progress for Young English Language Learners

Abstract

Standardized tests are often designed to provide only a snapshot of test takers' knowledge, skills, or abilities at a single point in time. Sometimes, however, they are expected to serve more demanding functions, one of them is assessing change in knowledge, skills, or ability over time because of learning effects. The latter is the case for the newly developed TOEFL Junior® Standard test, which measures improvement in young learners' proficiency in English as a foreign language. In this study, we used nonexperimental‐repeated measures data from approximately 4,600 students from multiple countries to examine the extent to which observed patterns in within‐individual changes in test scores were consistent with changes in underlying language proficiency because of learning. Because most students were actively participating in English language learning programs, the time interval between test administrations, which varied among students, served as a proxy for the extent of English language learning opportunities. We used hierarchical linear models to model growth in test performance as a function of the time interval between test administrations and found a positive, statistically significant relationship; that is, test takers with longer intervals between retesting exhibited greater gains than did test takers who retested at shorter intervals. The estimated relationship for the total score corresponded to between .16 and .24 test standard deviations of growth per year, depending on model specification. The findings are robust to sensitivity analyses that explore potential biasing factors. Overall, the findings are consistent with the hypothesis that the TOEFL Junior Standard test is capable of reflecting change in English language proficiency over time.

An analysis of TOEFL® Primary™ repeaters: How much score change occurs?

“…As a result, if language proficiency tests are administered too frequently, students will not be able to demonstrate progress even if they have been developing their language proficiency between test administrations. Both Green (2005) and Gu et al’s (2015) findings suggest that this phenomenon may occur with standardized English proficiency tests.…”

“…Recently, Gu et al (2015) also examined the relationship between time intervals and score changes on the TOEFL Junior test, a standardized English proficiency test designed for young EFL learners (primarily ages 11–15 years). To see score gains on this test, test takers are advised to repeat the test after receiving “regular” English instruction for 6 months (Educational Testing Service, n.d.).…”

“…To see score gains on this test, test takers are advised to repeat the test after receiving “regular” English instruction for 6 months (Educational Testing Service, n.d.). Gu et al (2015) analyzed 4606 test takers who repeated the TOEFL Junior test, interpreting the time interval between test administrations as a proxy for the amount of English language learning that had taken place; that is, the more time elapsed between test administrations, the more learning was assumed to have occurred. They found that as the time interval increased, score gains increased by approximately 11–16.6 score points per year on the on the TOEFL Junior score scale, which ranges from 300–600.…”

Advancing Human Assessment: A Synthesis Over Seven Decades

“…For those with disabilities, topics included accessibility (Hansen et al 2012;Stone et al 2016), accommodations (Cook et al 2010), instrument and item functioning (Buzick and Stone 2011;Steinberg et al 2011), computer-adaptive testing (Stone et al 2013;Stone and Davey 2011), automated versus human essay scoring , and the measurement of growth (Buzick and Laitusis 2010a, b). For English learners, topics covered accessibility Young et al 2014), accommodations (Wolf et al 2012a, b), instrument functioning (Gu et al 2015;Young et al 2010), test use (Lopez et al 2016;Wolf and Farnsworth 2014;Wolf and FaulknerBond 2016), and the conceptualization of English learner proficiency assessment systems ).…”

The Validity of TOEFL as Entry and Exit College Requirements: Students’ perception

“…Moreover, IELTS is required for entering universities in the UK and other countries affiliated with Britain such as Australia and New Zealand. Meanwhile, Gu et al mention that Educational Testing Service (ETS) created TOEFL test for measuring English proficiency of EFL/ESL students intending to continue their education at higher institutions in America and other English-speaking countries which adopt American standard [4]. Thus, TOEFL is only used to measure the ability of non-native speakers of English to use and understand English in an academic context [2].…”