Language Test Construction and Evaluation describes the process of language test construction clearly and comprehensively. Each chapter deals with one stage of the test construction process: from drafting initial test specifications, to reporting test scores, test validation and washback. In addition, current practice in the examining of English as a Foreign Language by different examining boards is reviewed in order to compare testing principles with present test practice. The focus of the book is on the practical; it does not assume a statistical background but explains and demystifies the procedures and concepts that are relevant to the construction and evaluation of language tests. Language Test Construction and Evaluation will provide an invaluable reference for anyone who wishes to understand how language tests are, and should be, constructed.

This work investigates the ESP claim that tertiary level ESL students should be given reading proficiency tests in their own academic subject areas, and studies the effect of background knowledge on reading comprehension. It is set against a background of research into reading in a first and second language, and emphasizes the impact that schema theory has had on this. Results from versions of the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) reading subtests are analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. Rhetorical function, academic/topic specificity, EAP teacher uncertainty, student familiarity and varying background knowledge are all identified as causes of variation in the appropriacy of reading passages. The book concludes by considering the implications of the findings for future test construction and research into reading.