Listening comprehension in English, as one of the most fundamental skills, has an essential role in the process of learning English. Non-parametric item Response Theory (NIRT) is a probabilistic-nonparametric approach to item response theory (IRT) which determines the one-dimensionality and adaptability of test. NIRT techniques are a useful tool…

The current article evaluates a national English language proficiency test known as the "MSRT test" which is used to determine the eligibility of candidates for admission to and completion of higher education programs in Iran. Students in all majors take this standardized, high-stake criterion-referenced test to determine if they have…

Listening comprehension in English, as one of the most fundamental skills, has an essential role in the process of learning English. Mokken scale analysis (MSA) is a probabilistic-nonparametric approach to item response theory (IRT) which determines the one-dimensionality and scalability of test. Mokken scaling techniques are a useful tool for…

Shifting focus of asocial language tests toward social considerations recalls their ideological basis (Mirhosseini, De Costa, 2020). The recurrent exposure to and involvement in discursive constructions of high stakes' contents, may bring along certain sociocultural conceptualizations and values by test audiences (van Dijk, 1998). Thus, unless a…

Large-scale standardized ESL tests such as the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) are widely used around the world to measure the language proficiency of test-takers and make different decisions based on their scores. Reading comprehension is an integral part of such tests which requires test-takers to read passages and answer a…

The documentation of test takers' achievements has been accomplished through large-scale assessments to find general information about students' language ability. To remove subjectivity, Cognitive Diagnostic Assessment (CDA) has recently played a crucial role in perceiving candidates' latent attribute patterns to find multi-diagnostic information…

Language testing has witnessed three major trends in the 1990s: theoretical, methodological, and analytical. Theoretically, emphasis has been placed on the further understanding of the construct of language proficiency. Methodologically, there has been an outburst of interest in language performance testing and the promotion of the professional…

Language testing and assessment have grown in popularity and gained significance in the last few decades, and there is a rising need for assessment literate stakeholders in the field of language education. As teachers play a major role in assessing students, there is a need to make sure they have the right level of assessment knowledge and skills…

Cognitive diagnostic models (CDMs) have received sustained attention in educational settings because they can be used to operationalize formative assessment to provide diagnostic feedback and inform instruction. A large number of CDMs have been developed over the past few years. An important component of all CDMs is a Q-matrix that specifies a…

The current study focused mainly on the role of the linguistic complexity of IELTS writing Task 2. In other words, it investigated the differential effects of two interrelated linguistic complexities of writing Task 2 on the three levels of discourse representation and what IELTS candidates perceived through analyzing IELTS writing topics both at…

The present study investigated the speaking module of TOEFL iBT with an emphasis on the dichotomy of independent and integrated tasks. The potential differences between the two speaking conditions were intended to be explored based on the oral performance elicited from a group of Iranian test takers. To collect the required data, a simulated…

The current study sought to examine the validity of a General English Achievement Test (GEAT), administered to university students in the fall semester of 2018-2019 academic year, by hybridizing differential information (DIF) and differential distractor function (DDF) analytical models. Using a purposive sampling method, from the target population…

Individuals are controlled by tests in every advanced society when they want to be admitted in educational courses, to proceed from one stage to the next, or to be given a certificate (Shohamy, 2001b). Accordingly, the present study was carried out to construct and validate educational, social, and psychological consequences questionnaires of…

In this paper we tried to demonstrate the validity of C-Test using construct identification approach. In this approach to construct validation the factors which contribute to item difficulty are identified. The assumption is that the factors which make items difficult are actually the construct underlying the test. For the purposes of this study,…

In this study the validity of partial dictation as a measure of overall language proficiency was examined. Two partial dictation tests along with a C-Test, a cloze test, and a reading comprehension test, as criterion measures, were administered to a group of Iranian EFL learners. The coefficients of correlation between partial dictation and…