Mouse to replace pencil for international
students
Beginning in Summer, 1998, students taking
the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) in many countries
will leave their No 2 pencils behind and use a computer instead.
This change is part of an evolutionary effort to create a new and
better generation of English proficiency tests.
The transition of TOEFL to computer is part of a project called
TOEFL 2000 which began in 1993. It reflects the beliefs of the TOEFL
Policy Council and Educational Testing Service (ETSŪ) that the computer
offers new opportunities for better English proficiency assessment
that is more responsive to test takers and score users. Use of performance
based questions will also provide schools with better information
about an international student's ability to understand and use English.
The computer based TOEFL will be administered in four sections
Listening, Structure, Reading and Writing. Most sections will have
new or improved question types by using computer technology.
The Listening section will continue to measure the test taker's
ability to understand English as it is spoken in North America,
including frequently used vocabulary, expressions and grammar. With
the computer based version, test takers will now listen to dialogues,
talks and group discussions through personal headphones while they
see context-setting visuals on the computer screen.
The Structure section will measure the ability to recognise language
that is appropriate for standard written English. The Reading section
will still use passages to measure the ability to understand non-technical
reading material, but new tasks that require the test taker to become
more closely involved with the text have been developed. The Writing
section will measure the person's ability to generate, organise
and support ideas using standard written English in an essay. In
order not to disadvantage people who lack keyboard skills, test
takers may handwrite or type the essay. The essay rating will now
be combined with the Structure section score to create a compiled
Structure/Writing scaled score. The essay rating will constitute
one-half of the Structure/Writing scaled score.
Another improvement is that the Listening and Structure sections
will be computer adaptive. Test takers receive questions that are
appropriate for their performance level. The section begins with
a question of average difficulty. If the test taker answers the
question correctly, the next question will be one that fulfils the
test design and will typically be of the same or higher difficulty
level. If the test taker answers incorrectly, the next question
will he one that fulfils the test design and will typically be of
the same or lower difficulty level. Thus, all subsequent questions
presented are based in part on the test taker's performance on previous
questions and in part on the test design.
Computer-based TOEFL will be offered worldwide at Sylvan Technology
Centers, specified university test centers, ETS field offices and
other locations worldwide. Testing will be available year-round
at more than 300 test centers around the world. Test takers will
make appointments by calling either their local test center or Regional
Registration Center. The appointments can be made within a few days
of testing. However, test takers should consider admission deadlines
and call early to maximise chances of getting preferred test dates
at the most convenient center.
The entire testing experience will also improve as test takers
will sit in private carrels where they will use volume-controlled
headphones. Score reporting will also be faster as students will
see partial scores on the screen at the test center and official
score reports will be sent usually within two weeks of testing.
Because the content and format of the TOEFL test have changed,
scores on the computer-based test will be reported on a new score
scale. This new score scale has been designed to distinguish scores
received on the computer-based TOEFL from those received on the
paper-based test. For the computer-based test the examinee will
receive four scaled scores:
Listening (0 to 30), Structure/Writing (0 to 30), Reading (0 to
30), and a total score (000 to 300). The three section scores and
a total score will be reported on the score report. The essay rating
will be integrated in the Structure/Writing score; in addition,
the score on the essay will be reported as an independent rating
on this form. To assist score users in setting new score standards
on the new scale, work has begun to produce a concordance study
and table that will relate scores on the computer-based test with
those on the paper based exam. Results of the concordance study
and table will be available in the Spring, 1998.
The TOEFL program has taken steps to assure that an individual's
test performance is not influenced by a lack of computer experience.
A tutorial designed especially for non-native speakers of English,
has been developed to teach the skills needed to take the computer
based TOEFL. The results from a study conducted by ETS indicate
the tutorial is effective because there was no practical difference
between the performance of test takers who were familiar and unfamiliar
with the computer. Additional information on this computer familiarity
study will be available in early 1998.
Although the United States, Canada, Latin America, Europe, the
Middle East, Africa, Australia and New Zealand, and eight areas
in Asia (Brunei, Indonesia, Nepal, Malaysia, Mongolia, the Philippines,
Singapore, and Sri Lanka) will make the transition to computer in
1998, the paper based test will continue to be administered in the
other areas in Asia. However, once computer-based TOEFL is introduced
in a country, the paper-based program will be eliminated ETS plans
to complete the transition to computer by the year 2001.
Contributed by ETSŪ
This article first appeared in Studying Abroad magazine
