Diagnostic language assessment (DLA) is gaining a lot of attention from language teachers, testers, and applied linguists. With a recent surge of interest in DLA, there seems to be an urgent need to assess where the field of DLA stands at the moment and develop a general sense of where it should be moving in the future. The current article, as the…

The present study examined the factor structures across features of 446 examinees' responses to a writing task that integrates reading and listening modalities as well as reading and listening comprehension items of the TOEFL iBT[R] (Internet-based test). Both human and automated scores obtained for the integrated essays were utilized. Based on a…

This article presents the authors' response on the two commentators' (Fred Davidson and Charles Alderson) reviews of the 2009 Special Issue of "Language Assessment Quarterly" on "Cognitive Diagnosis and Q-matrices in Language Assessment." The Special Issue represents several years of research work on cognitive diagnosis approaches (CDA) carried…

The main purpose of the study was to investigate the distinctness and reliability of analytic (or multi-trait) rating dimensions and their relationships to holistic scores and "e-rater"[R] essay feature variables in the context of the TOEFL[R] computer-based test (TOEFL CBT) writing assessment. Data analyzed in the study were holistic…

A variety of cognitive diagnosis approaches (CDAs) have been used by researchers to extract fine-grained information about the linguistic knowledge states and skill mastery levels of test takers based on their performance on language tests. Although some of these approaches have been in use in the psychometric community for quite some time, many…

The present study investigated the functioning of three psychometric models for cognitive diagnosis--the general diagnostic model, the fusion model, and latent class analysis--when applied to large-scale English as a second language listening and reading comprehension assessments. Data used in this study were scored item responses and incidence…

The main purpose of the study was to investigate the distinctness and reliability of analytic (or multitrait) rating dimensions and their relationships to holistic scores and "e-rater"® essay feature variables in the context of the TOEFL® computer-based test (CBT) writing assessment. Data analyzed in the study were analytic and holistic…

Possible integrated and independent tasks were pilot tested for the writing section of a new generation of the TOEFL[R] (Test of English as a Foreign Language[TM]). This study examines the impact of various rating designs and of the number of tasks and raters on the reliability of writing scores based on integrated and independent tasks from the…

A multitask speaking measure consisting of both integrated and independent tasks is expected to be an important component of a new version of the TOEFL test. This study considered two critical issues concerning score dependability of the new speaking measure: How much would the score dependability be impacted by (1) combining scores on different…

Possible integrated and independent tasks were pilot tested for the writing section of a new generation of TOEFL® (Test of English as a Foreign Language™) examination. This study examines the impact of various rating designs as well as the impact of the number of tasks and raters on the reliability of writing scores based on integrated and…

This study has investigated the comparability of computer-based testing writing prompts in the Test of English as a Foreign LanguageTM (TOEFL) for examinees of different native language backgrounds. A total of 81 writing prompts introduced from July 1998 through August 2000 were examined using a 3-step logistic regression procedure for ordinal…

Eighty-three Test of English as a Foreign Language™ (TOEFL®) CBT writing prompts that were administered between July 1998 and August 2000 were examined in order to identify differences in scores that could be attributed to the response mode chosen by examinees (handwritten or word processed). Differences were examined statistically using…

This study has investigated the comparability of computer-based testing (CBT) writing prompts in the Test of English as a Foreign Language™ (TOEFL®) for examinees of different native language backgrounds. A total of 81 writing prompts introduced from July 1998 through August 2000 were examined using a three-step logistic regression procedure for…

This study assessed the factor structure of the LanguEdge™ test and the invariance of its factors across language groups. Confirmatory factor analyses of individual tasks and subsets of items in the four sections of the test, Listening, Reading, Speaking, and Writing, was carried out for Arabic-, Chinese-, and Spanish-speaking test takers. Two…