ERIC Number: EJ1327645
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2022
Pages: 20
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-2229-0443
EISSN: N/A
Longitudinal Measurement of Growth in Vocabulary Size Using Rasch-Based Test Equating
Language Testing in Asia, v12 Article 5 2022
The purpose of this study is to equate and further validate three forms of the vocabulary size test (VST) created by Aizawa and Mochizuki (2010). These three forms, VST 1, 2, and 3, were administered to a cohort of 189 high school students ranging in age from 16 to 18 in April of their 1st, 2nd, and 3rd year of high school. Although these alternate forms were designed to be of equal difficulty, formal equating of the three forms was never carried out. In order to verify whether gains in test scores were due to growth in vocabulary size or differences in difficulty among the three forms, a fourth form comprised of items selected from VST 1-3 was created and administered in December of year 3. The four test forms were then equated using Rasch analysis, placing persons and items on a single, uniform logit scale. The results indicated that (1) the three original forms of the VST all showed good fit to the Rasch model, (2) differences in test difficulty among the original three forms were minor, and (3) the four VST forms, linked via a single Rasch analysis, can be appropriately used for estimating gains in students' VS across their high school career. In addition, follow-up analyses indicated considerable overlap in item difficulty among word frequency bands, suggesting that word frequency was not the sole indicator of difficulty of vocabulary items, and that learner progress in vocabulary learning tended to be uniform and parallel across all frequency bands. Overall, the study illustrates a method for creating a valid and reliable measure of growth in VS over an extended period of time and provides insight into the relationships among word frequency, word difficulty, and progress in vocabulary learning.
Descriptors: Vocabulary Development, Vocabulary Skills, Language Tests, Longitudinal Studies, Item Response Theory, Equated Scores, High School Students, Test Items, Goodness of Fit, Difficulty Level, Word Frequency, Test Validity, Test Reliability, Foreign Countries
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: High Schools; Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Japan
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A