This article explores the issue of identifying guessers -- with a specific focus on multiple-choice tests. Guessing has long been considered a problem due to the fact that it compromises validity. A test taker scoring higher than they should through guessing does not provide a picture of their actual ability. After an initial description of issues…

The calibration of test materials generally involves the interaction between empirical analysis and expert judgement. This paper explores the extent to which scale familiarity might affect expert judgement as a component of test validation in the calibration process. It forms part of a larger study that investigates the alignment of the…

This paper reports reactions by candidates to the use of online proctoring (OLP), 'invigilation', in the delivery of high-stakes English language examinations. The paper first sets the scene in terms of the move from face-to-face to online modes of delivery. It explores the challenges and benefits that both modes offer, in terms of accessibility,…

Over the past two decades awareness has been growing that English language teachers need good English language proficiency and professional training to teach effectively. To address this issue, a benchmark--minimum standards assessment test--was initiated, developed, and introduced in Hong Kong in 2001. Because more than a decade and a half has…

This article examines the issue of the quality of teacher-produced tests, limiting itself in the current context to objective, multiple-choice tests. The article investigates a short, two-part 20-item English language test. After a brief overview of the key test qualities of reliability and validity, the article examines the two subtests in terms…

This study investigates the perceptions of stakeholders on the impact of a high-stakes assessment of English language teachers' proficiency--the minimum language standards Language Proficiency Assessment for Teachers (English) [LPATE], which was introduced in 2000. Given that the test has now been in place for 17 years, the study investigates the…

This article reports a case study of students attending a fee-paying private tutorial school in Hong Kong in 2009-2010. They were retaking the Year 11 English language public examination, attempting to improve grades obtained in 2008-2009. The mainly qualitative study extends an earlier quantitative study (Coniam Recent developments in English…

The "Language Proficiency Assessment for Teachers of English" (LPATE) is a test of standards of English language ability for Hong Kong primary and secondary school teachers of English. The impetus for the creation of the LPATE arose, in 1996, because of concerns in business and education communities over falling English language…

Background: This article reports a study into the double marking of Liberal Studies in Hong Kong. This is now a compulsory subject in Hong Kong's Years 10-12 curriculum which, when first examined in the new Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education in 2012, will increase its candidature from its current 3,300 to 80,000. Aims: To examine the…

This paper examines the quality of tests that Hong Kong teachers of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) produce for their own EFL students. The paper examines the effects on graduate teachers of a language testing programme where participants produced objective tests, proceeding through the stages of test specification, moderation, and item…

Within the general context of the attention being given to vocational education in China and imminent major reform in the English language vocational education curriculum, this paper describes the construction of a set of calibrated tests of reading skills, grammar and vocabulary knowledge to inform curriculum planners about levels of ability in…

Describes the design and implementation of a computer-based listening test--the "Text dictation." The article first discusses the importance of listening centering on a coherent text, rather than short listening fragments, and discusses drawbacks of listening programs wherein the required responses consist of noninteractive test types, such as…

This paper examines one section of the objective paper of the Hong Kong Examination Authority's (HKEA) Use of English Examination. One of the test types in this section of the examination involves candidates completing a cloze passage based on a text. It is the HKEA's contention that the exercise involves summarizing/paraphrasing skills. The…

Evaluates a multimedia program produced to support test takers facing a new performance test for English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) teachers in Hong Kong as part of a language certification test. Describes how groups of trainee ESL teachers in Hong Kong were first introduced to the test via the print syllabus produced by the Hong Kong…

This article describes a study that emerged as a result of the severe acute respiratory syndrome crisis that struck Hong Kong in 2003. One outcome of the severe acute respiratory syndrome crisis was that all personnel in all educational institutions in Hong Kong were compelled to wear face masks for the period April-August 2003. Consequently, the…