The shortcomings of both the original version of TOEFL
and the current TOEIC were highlighted in the following
quote:
Preoccupation with the psychometric qualities of TOEFL helps ensure good testing practices.
Nevertheless, it has made the TOEFL somewhat resistant to and slow in incorporating changes that might jeopardize its high reliability standards.
Also, the continued commercial success of TOEFL has contributed to its adherence to the status quo.
Whereas the validity of test scores is undermined when reliability standards are not upheld,
reliability documentation alone cannot make up for inadequate validity evidence. In other words,
a strong reliability agenda is not sufficient to ensure meaningful inferences made from TOEFL scores. TOEFL’s emphasis on scientific accuracy through its stringent reliability analyses has been
done with a hazardous disregard for some aspects of validity. (Chalhoub-Deville. M. & Turner. C.,2000, p. 536) This is now far less applicable to the TOEFL, due to its redesign, but these comments are still all too applicable to the TOEIC. The lack of research into TOEIC is troubling in two ways.Firstly, the great popularity of TOEIC (almost 3 million registered candidates per year) means that it is one of the most taken language proficiency tests in the world. This fact alone
should attract independent researchers’ attempts to verify the claims made by the test maker. Secondly, the little independent research that has been carried out has been largely critical of
the TOEIC. Doubts have been voiced over several claims made for the test by ETS. This combination should be enough to spur further critical discussion into this increasingly important test.
Some areas that would be of interest include:
1) Correlations between TOEIC scores and direct,established tests of speaking and writing to
establish whether TOEIC is a reliable predictor of these skills. It would be especially useful to
investigate subjects with scores around the mean TOEIC score in Japan (approximately 450).
2) The linguistic skills required by the end users of TOEIC. It would be helpful to know what both
employees and employers require in terms of linguistic proficiency. Research could help to
establish the skills required, which would act as the construct for the TOEIC. If the precise
construct is unknown, it is difficult to criticize the validity of the test.
3) The washback effect of the TOEIC. How does TOEIC influence learner motivation and study?
Does TOEIC encourage learners to develop skills that are useful to their employers? Does TOEIC
affect how teachers run classes for corporations utilizing the TOEIC? These three areas would help to guarantee the best possible test was being produced for both test takers and the corporations that are frequently paying for the TOEIC. The example of TOEFL shows that extensive critical discussion of a test can lead to consistent development and improvement of the test. The users of the TOEIC would
benefit from such a discussion and the time for this to begin is surely imminent.
The shortcomings of both the original version of TOEFL
and the current TOEIC were highlighted in the following
quote:
Preoccupation with the psychometric qualities of TOEFL helps ensure good testing practices.
Nevertheless, it has made the TOEFL somewhat resistant to and slow in incorporating changes that might jeopardize its high reliability standards.
Also, the continued commercial success of TOEFL has contributed to its adherence to the status quo.
Whereas the validity of test scores is undermined when reliability standards are not upheld,
reliability documentation alone cannot make up for inadequate validity evidence. In other words,
a strong reliability agenda is not sufficient to ensure meaningful inferences made from TOEFL scores. TOEFL’s emphasis on scientific accuracy through its stringent reliability analyses has been
done with a hazardous disregard for some aspects of validity. (Chalhoub-Deville. M. & Turner. C.,2000, p. 536) This is now far less applicable to the TOEFL, due to its redesign, but these comments are still all too applicable to the TOEIC. The lack of research into TOEIC is troubling in two ways.Firstly, the great popularity of TOEIC (almost 3 million registered candidates per year) means that it is one of the most taken language proficiency tests in the world. This fact alone
should attract independent researchers’ attempts to verify the claims made by the test maker. Secondly, the little independent research that has been carried out has been largely critical of
the TOEIC. Doubts have been voiced over several claims made for the test by ETS. This combination should be enough to spur further critical discussion into this increasingly important test.
Some areas that would be of interest include:
1) Correlations between TOEIC scores and direct,established tests of speaking and writing to
establish whether TOEIC is a reliable predictor of these skills. It would be especially useful to
investigate subjects with scores around the mean TOEIC score in Japan (approximately 450).
2) The linguistic skills required by the end users of TOEIC. It would be helpful to know what both
employees and employers require in terms of linguistic proficiency. Research could help to
establish the skills required, which would act as the construct for the TOEIC. If the precise
construct is unknown, it is difficult to criticize the validity of the test.
3) The washback effect of the TOEIC. How does TOEIC influence learner motivation and study?
Does TOEIC encourage learners to develop skills that are useful to their employers? Does TOEIC
affect how teachers run classes for corporations utilizing the TOEIC? These three areas would help to guarantee the best possible test was being produced for both test takers and the corporations that are frequently paying for the TOEIC. The example of TOEFL shows that extensive critical discussion of a test can lead to consistent development and improvement of the test. The users of the TOEIC would
benefit from such a discussion and the time for this to begin is surely imminent.
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