Language Testing

Extensive research has demonstrated the impact of working memory (WM) on first language (L1) reading comprehension across age groups (Peng et al., 2018), and on foreign language (FL) reading comprehension of adults and older adolescents (Linck et al., 2014). Comparatively little is known about the effect of WM on young FL readers’ comprehension, and even less within testing contexts. Young FL readers are still developing their L1 reading skills and general cognitive skills (e.g., attentional regulation abilities). Completing FL reading tests might be particularly taxing on their WM, and differences in WM capacity – as well as other learner and task characteristics – might create construct-irrelevant variance in test performance.

In this study, we investigate the effects of WM, grade level, and reading task on young learners’ FL reading test performances. Ninety-four young English language learners (Grades 6–7) in Hungary completed the TOEFL^® Junior™ Comprehensive’s reading test and a WM test battery. Our mixed-effects model predicted significantly higher comprehension accuracy among learners with higher WM capacity, and among learners in Grade 7 compared to learners in Grade 6. Reading task differences were not associated with significant comprehension accuracy differences. We discuss the implications of our findings for testing young learners’ FL reading comprehension.

Test-taker characteristics (TTCs), or individual difference variables, are known to be a systematic source of variance in language test performance. Although previous research has documented the impact of a range of TTCs on second language (L2) learners’ test performance, few of these studies have involved young learners. Given that young L2 learners undergo rapid maturational changes in their cognitive abilities, are susceptible to affective factors in unique ways, and have little autonomy with respect to the context of L2 acquisition, the relationship between their personal attributes and their test performance merit separate research attention. To fill this gap, we investigated the extent to which sixth-grade, Korean-L1, EFL learners’ (n = 107) TTCs predicted their performance on tests of L2 listening and reading comprehension. The TTCs under investigation included three cognitive characteristics (aptitude, phonological working memory, L1 competence), one affective factor (motivation), and two demographic variables (socioeconomic status and gender). Results showed that aptitude and phonological working memory significantly predicted participants’ performance on both L2 listening and reading comprehension tests, whereas motivation predicted performance on the L2 listening comprehension test only. These findings suggest that higher aptitude, phonological working memory, and motivation contribute positively to young learners’ L2 outcomes.

Given the increasing emphasis of communicative competence in English as a foreign language (EFL) contexts and the lack of validation research on speaking assessments for adolescent EFL learners, in the current study we examined the validity of the TOEFL Junior® speaking test, a relatively new speaking assessment developed by Educational Testing Service. We utilized Messick’s integrative view of construct validity (1996) and Kane’s interpretation argument framework (Kane, 2013), and focused on two sources of validity evidence: internal structure and external relations to other variables (AERA, APA, and NCME, 2014). We used a cross-sectional design with 252 seventh-to-ninth graders in Taiwan, which aligns with the spectrum of the TOEFL Junior®’s target age group. All adolescent participants took the TOEFL Junior® speaking test and two researcher-developed speaking tests. They also completed a survey reporting their history of English learning experiences from kindergarten to present and evaluating their own English language skills. Adolescent participants’ teachers provided evaluations of participants’ English language skills. Results from correlational tests and confirmatory factor analysis showed robust evidence for the test’s internal structure. Correlation and multiple regression models also demonstrated strong positive relationships between TOEFL Junior® test scores and external variables, providing evidence for TOEFL Junior®’s construct validity.

Language assessment literacy (LAL) has recently gained substantial attention among language educators and other stakeholders. However, existing models focus almost exclusively on teachers, test developers, and administrators, and lack students’ perspectives in their conceptualizations. To address this gap, with this exploratory study we aimed to understand young learners’ LAL. The participants were fourth- and sixth-grade students (ages 9–10 and 11–12, respectively, with 10 participants in each age group) in China. After taking English mock tests, the children participated in individual, semi-structured interviews that covered their understanding of the following: (a) assessment purposes and theories (their knowledge about how assessment works); (b) assessment skills (their views of assessment designs, procedures, and content); and (c) assessment principles (their notion of fairness, cheating, and feedback). The data were analyzed qualitatively in line with current LAL models. The results suggest that the children already had substantial assessment literacy in knowledge, skills, and principles. Although their teachers’ assessment practice remains form-focused, children generally want more communicative-based and diagnostic assessment. They also want more cognitively challenging and enjoyable assessment tasks. Our findings provide solid supporting evidence for the importance of considering students’ perspectives, along with the views of other stakeholders, in order to have a more balanced understanding of LAL.

Writing in a foreign language is a particularly difficult skill to develop, especially when young learners are concerned because they are parallelly learning to write in their L1 and do not have strong oral foundations in their L2. The issue becomes even more complex when the ways to assess young learners’ writing are considered, given that research has shown there is room for improvement regarding English language teachers’ assessment literacy. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to examine the practices and challenges of assessing the writing of young EFL learners in Croatia. In the first part of the study, 97 English language teachers working with learners from year 1 to year 4 of elementary school (children aged 7 to 10) took an online questionnaire with close-ended and open-ended questions. In the second part, I analyzed the writing tasks that the learners were assigned by the teachers in the school. The results show that teachers do not always use appropriate writing tasks for summative assessment, that they need more support in creating language tests, and that Croatian universities need to do more to prepare future teachers to teach and assess young English language learners.