The Concept of Construct Validity Applied in Reading Section of the English Proficiency Test of Soochow University

結構效度理念在東吳大學英語能力測驗閲讀部分之體現

10.29737/SJFLL.200809.0002

龔營(Byron Gong)

語言測驗 ； 結構效度 ； 測驗内容 ； 測驗效用 ； 閲讀測驗 ； language testing ； construct validity ； test content ； test usefulness ； reading test

東吳外語學報

27期（2008 / 09 / 01）

21 - 58

英文

結構效度在研發語言測驗當中具有重要的指導意義。在何種程度上，一項考試可以有效地對預定的測驗內容進行測量，乃是試題研發人員必須考慮的首要問題。本文以結構效度理念出發對東吳大學英語檢定考試(EPTSU)的閲讀部分進行探究。作者認爲結構效度作爲一項重要的理念應當在考試大綱裏面得到體現，並應得到出題人員的重視。本文對考試結構效度進行了廣泛討論並對EPTSU考試作了量化研究，其量化研究方式在佐證結構效度方面頗具參考意義。本文指出，結構效度的理念對該EPTSU考試提供了理論保證，廣義來講，正確地理解和實施是大型考試對教學給與正面回波效應的保證。本文對從事語言測驗的研究者和教師也具有良好的參考價值。

Language test contents are conceptually related to the rationale that guides the test designers to construct a test. To what extent that a large-scale test is designed to measure the intended test contents effectively and satisfactorily can be considered the primary concern for language test developers. The writer raised a hypothetical question of whether the notion of construct validity is conceptually and practically reflected in the English Proficiency Test of Soochow University (EPTSU). This paper examined the relationship between the construct validation of the Reading Section of the EPTSU test and its related theoretical justification. The investigation has shown that (1) construct validation is vital for language testing, and this concept is well reflected in the test specifications of the EPTSU; (2) the theoretical discussion about construct validation in this paper has highlighted some relevant issues for language test designers to consider more carefully, especially for those designing high stakes tests; (3) construct validity has become the underlying theoretical guideline on the item writing and content development of the EPTSU, which can provide useful insights into what tests in general are testing. Empirically, this research provided a solid validation study to collect evidence of construct validity reflected in the actual EPTSU test. The statistical analysis through different methods such as differential-group experiment, and inter-subtest correlation matrix has provided a better understanding of how construct validity can be estimated. The implication of this paper emphasizes that construct validity behind a test is so important that language test developers should never overlook it in every stage of language testing, and this notion is the guarantee for positive backwash effect on almost any college ELT programmes in Taiwan should there be high-stakes tests. This paper could be valuable for researchers and teachers in the field of language testing.

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