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Browsing English by Subject "Academic language -- Ability testing"
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Item Open Access Konstitutiewe voorwaardes vir die ontwerp van 'n toets van akademiese geletterdheid(University of the Free State, 2010-11) Van Dyk, Tobias Johannes; Weideman, A. J.English: Throughput rates at South African universities are low and contribute, among others, to financial losses for a number of stakeholders: students, their parents/guardians, donors of scholarships, universities and the state. This compels institutions to investigate those factors influencing study success. Various international and local investigations indicate that academic language ability is one of several factors that has a significant influence on academic success. In order to make informed decisions about low stakes issues such as language support, universities need mechanisms to enable them to do so. One such mechanism is the use of measuring instruments, such as the Toets van Akademiese Geletterdheidsvlakke (TAG), to make a diagnosis of students‘ academic language ability, and to then place them on appropriate language support programmes. Tests, however, have the obvious power to touch the lives of people in some way. It is therefore necessary that an accountable and transparent approach is followed when designing and implementing tests such as TAG, and when interpreting test results. This is usually done by investigating the reliability and validity of a test; the latter by means of a process of validation. This study is an example of such an investigation where TAG is subjected to thorough and systematic scrutiny. A framework that considers applied linguistics as a discipline of design was followed, against which the construct (underlying theoretical framework), test specifications (the blueprint) and task types, as well as the reliability and validity of TAG were investigated. The framework suggests that a test is a technical design that can be used as solution to a (language) problem. This technical design is grounded upon certain constitutive conditions underlying it, and disclosed by regulative conditions. The former include aspects such as reliability and validity, and the latter utility, transparency, accountability and care. Although the focus of this study was on the constitutive conditions for designing and developing TAG, it repeatedly refers to the importance of the interplay between constitutive and regulative conditions, as well as the fact that a test such as TAG cannot be investigated from one perspective only. The argument of this study is thus that a technically accountable approach to the development and implementation of, and investigations into tests such as TAG is necessary in order to use them in a justifiable and responsible manner. The conclusion of this study is that TAG is a test of high quality and that it can without a doubt be used by universities for purposes of placement, because it was designed and implemented with care and its results are constantly being scrutinised.