Does gender, test medium, or attitude matter? Analyzing test takers’ responses to technology-mediated speaking tests
Eunjyu Yu, State University of New York at Canton, USA
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https://doi.org/10.58379/KPRN6807
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Volume 1, Issue 1, 2012
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Abstract: In response to increasing concerns about fairness and justice in computerized oral proficiency testing, this study investigated the relationship between test taker attributes and test delivery media of two different technology-mediated speaking tests. Two hundred eight non-native English speakers in a major public US university participated in this study. The results of a multiple regression analysis showed that test takers’ attitudes toward the test delivery media was the most influential predictor of results on the technology-mediated speaking tests, followed by a gender-test delivery medium interaction effect. Further analyses of the qualitative information identified the perceived advantages and disadvantages of two different technology-mediated modes and a human-interlocutormediated mode. The results indicated that a live face-to-face interview mode was the most favored in measuring oral proficiency, followed by a computerized mode and an audiotape-mediated mode. Implications are drawn for appropriate use of technology in measuring oral proficiency.
Keywords: validity, computer-mediated oral proficiency assessment, gender, attitude, test delivery media