ALTAANZ
  • About ALTAANZ
  • ALTAANZ Committee
    • Current Committee
    • 2021 Committee
    • 2020 ALTAANZ Committee
    • 2018 - 2019 ALTAANZ Committee
    • 2017 ALTAANZ Committee
    • 2016 ALTAANZ Committee
    • 2015 ALTAANZ Committee
    • 2014 ALTAANZ Committee
    • 2013 ALTAANZ Committee
    • 2012 ALTAANZ Committee
    • 2011 ALTAANZ Committee
  • Joining ALTAANZ
  • ALANZ - ALAA - ALTAANZ 2022
  • ALTAANZ Online Research Forum 2021
  • LTRC/ALTAANZ Online Celebratory event 2020
    • About the event
    • Event Programme
    • LTRC Anniversary Symposium
  • Past ALTAANZ Conferences
    • ALANZ / ALAA / ALTAANZ AUCKLAND 2017
    • ALTAANZ Conference Auckland 2016 >
      • Keynote Speakers >
        • Plenary Abstracts
      • Teachers' Day
      • Pre-conference workshops
      • Conference programme
    • ALTAANZ Conference Brisbane 2014
    • ALTAANZ Conference Sydney 2012
  • Past ALTAANZ / LTRC Workshops
    • LTRC / ALTAANZ Workshops July 2014 >
      • Test analysis for teachers
      • Diagnostic assessment in the language classroom
      • Responding to student writing
      • Assessing Pragmatics
      • Introduction to Rasch measurement
      • Introduction to many-facet Rasch measurement
    • LTRC / ALTAANZ workshops September 2015 >
      • A Practical Approach to Questionnaire Construction for Language Assessment Research
      • Integrating self- and peer-assessment into the language classroom
      • Implementing and assessing collaborative writing activities
      • Assessing Vocabulary
      • Revisiting language constructs
  • Studies in Language Assessment (formerly PLTA)
    • Early View Articles
    • Current Issue
    • About SiLA
    • Past Issues >
      • 2022
      • 2021
      • 2020
      • 2019
      • 2018
      • 2017
      • 2016
      • 2015
      • 2014
      • 2013
      • 2012
    • Editorial Board
    • Contributors
  • ALTAANZ Awards
    • ALTAANZ Best Student Paper Award
    • Penny McKay Award
    • PLTA Best Paper Award
  • Sponsorship for Educational Activities
  • Newsletter: Language Assessment Matters
  • Contact us
Using dictation to measure language proficiency: A Rasch analysis
Paul Leeming, Kindai University, Japan
Aeric Wong, Konan University, Japan

https://doi/10.0000/0000
Volume 5, Issue 2, 2016
Abstract: Groups are used widely in the language classroom and, particularly in classes where there is a wide range of English proficiency among students, teachers may want to construct balanced groups based on the language proficiency of individual students. In order to construct such groups, teachers need a reliable measure that effectively differentiates between different levels of proficiency, and yet there are contexts where information regarding student proficiency may not be available. This paper reports on the use of an in-house dictation test to measure the English proficiency of students in a Japanese university. Rasch analysis was used to determine the degree to which the dictation differentiated between the range of proficiencies in the classes, and to assess the reliability of the test. Correlation with scores from TOEIC and SLEP tests was used to confirm that the dictation tests English proficiency. Results show that dictation is a simple, cheap, and effective means of assessing the relative proficiency of students in this context, and can be used for constructing balanced groups. 
Keywords: testing, dictation, proficiency, Rasch analysis, group construction
Click to download Full Text