Setting a Passing Standard for English Proficiency on the Internet-Based Test of English as a Foreign Language

Wendt, Anne; Woo, Ada; Kenny, Lorraine

doi:10.1097/nhl.0b013e3181b4df50

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 1 publication

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“…This result probably reflected the similar and higher speaking proficiency requirements for these purposes. The finding is supported by the relatively high TOEFL iBT Speaking score requirement of 26 (0–30 scale) by health care professional associations and the importance of communicative ability in providing quality counseling and patient care (National Association of Boards of Pharmacy, ; Wendt & Woo, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 93%

Investigating the Relationship Between Test‐Taker Background Characteristics and Test Performance in a Heterogeneous English‐as‐a‐Second‐Language (ESL) Test Population: A Factor Analytic Approach

Manna

Yoo

2015

ETS Research Report Series

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This study examined the heterogeneity in the English‐as‐a‐second‐language (ESL) test population by modeling the relationship between test‐taker background characteristics and test performance as measured by the TOEFL iBT® using a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) with covariate approach. The background characteristics studied included: (a) main reason for taking the TOEFL iBT test; (b) time spent studying English; (c) time spent attending a school, college, or university in which content classes were taught in English; and (d) lived in a country where English is the main language. The results indicated that at most levels of the background characteristics studied, there were statistically significant differences in the means of the four underlying latent factors (reading, listening, speaking, and writing) representing English‐language proficiency (ELP). Overall, the effect size differences on the reading, listening, speaking, and writing latent factors among the levels for each of the background variables studied ranged from small to medium. The results of this study provide empirical evidence of the association and possible influence of test‐taker background characteristics on the four underlying latent factors representing ELP and, thus, on test performance.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 93%

Investigating the Relationship Between Test‐Taker Background Characteristics and Test Performance in a Heterogeneous English‐as‐a‐Second‐Language (ESL) Test Population: A Factor Analytic Approach

Manna

Yoo

2015

ETS Research Report Series

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“…Published examples of standard setting carried out in health professional contexts are those initiated by the United States National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) to set passing standards for nurses trained outside North America on the revised (paper-based) Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL; O’Neill, Tannenbaum, & Tiffen, 2005), TOEFL internet-based test (TOEFL iBT; Wendt, Woo, & Kenny, 2009), International English Language Testing System (IELTS; O’Neill, Buckendahl, Plake, & Taylor, 2007), the Pearson Test of English Academic (PTE Academic; Woo, Dickison, & de Jong, 2010) and the Michigan English Language Assessment Battery (MELAB; Qian, Woo, & Banerjee, 2014). The panellists in these studies included nurses with English as an additional language, nurse educators, nurse regulators, and consumers.…”

Section: Standard Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

How much is enough? Involving occupational experts in setting standards on a specific-purpose language test for health professionals

Pill

McNamara

2015

Language Testing

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This paper considers how to establish the minimum required level of professionally relevant oral communication ability in the medium of English for health practitioners with English as an additional language (EAL) to gain admission to practice in jurisdictions where English is the dominant language. A theoretical concern is the construct of clinical communicative competence and its separability (or not) from other aspects of professional competence, while a methodological question examines the technical difficulty of determining a defensible minimum standard. The paper reports on a standard-setting study to set a minimum standard of professionally relevant oral competence for three health professions – medicine, nursing, and physiotherapy – as measured by the speaking sub-test of the Occupational English Test, a profession-specific test of clinically related communicative competence. While clinical educators determined the standard, it is to be implemented by raters trained as teachers of EAL; therefore, the commensurability of the views of each group is a central issue. This also relates to where the limits of authenticity lie in the context of testing language for specific purposes: to represent the views of domain experts, a sufficient alignment of their views with scores given by the raters of test performances is vital. The paper considers the construct of clinical communicative competence and describes the standard-setting study, which used the analytical judgement method. The method proved successful in capturing sufficiently consistent judgements to define defensible standards. Findings also indicate that raters can act as proxies for occupational experts, although it remains unclear whether the views of performances held by these two groups are directly comparable. The new minimum standards represented by the cut scores were found to be somewhat harsher than those in current use, particularly in medicine.

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“…A passing score on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) is commonly used in higher education as a requisite for admission (McDermott-Levy, 2011; Morris & Maxey, 2014; Wendt et al, 2009; Zhang & Kenny, 2010; Zheng et al, 2014). The TOEFL measures students’ ability to use and understand English and evaluates how well they can combine their listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills to perform academic tasks at the university level (Educational Testing Services, 2016).…”

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confidence: 99%

English-As-A-Second-Language (ESL) Nursing Students’ Academic Integration: A Review of Literature

Sailsman

2021

Nurs Educ Perspect

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AIM The purpose of this literature review is to provide nurse educators with the evidence necessary to support future research and expansion of programs for English-as-a-second-language (ESL) nursing students. BACKGROUND Nursing education has expanded significantly in response to the Institute of Medicine's 2010 call for an increase in the number of baccalaureate-prepared nurses. The demographics of nursing students have also grown to include those who are ethnically and linguistically diverse. This literature review presents a robust compilation of evidence providing insight into the integration experience of nursing students from diverse cultural and language backgrounds. METHOD Peer-reviewed articles, along with other seminal sources, were identified. RESULTS The evidence highlights student challenges with academic language, cultural stressors, and faculty support. CONCLUSION Findings indicate that ESL nursing students experience challenges with academic integration. Future research can provide insight into how these students navigate specific learning environments.

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Setting a Passing Standard for English Proficiency on the Internet-Based Test of English as a Foreign Language

Cited by 4 publications

References 1 publication

Investigating the Relationship Between Test‐Taker Background Characteristics and Test Performance in a Heterogeneous English‐as‐a‐Second‐Language (ESL) Test Population: A Factor Analytic Approach

Investigating the Relationship Between Test‐Taker Background Characteristics and Test Performance in a Heterogeneous English‐as‐a‐Second‐Language (ESL) Test Population: A Factor Analytic Approach

How much is enough? Involving occupational experts in setting standards on a specific-purpose language test for health professionals

English-As-A-Second-Language (ESL) Nursing Students’ Academic Integration: A Review of Literature

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