著者
靜 哲人 竹内 理 八島 智子 吉澤 清美
出版者
Edward Arnold
雑誌
Language Testing
巻号頁・発行日
vol.23, no.1, pp.35-57, 2006
被引用文献数
23

The present study investigated the effects of reducing the number of options per item on psychometric characteristics of a Japanese EFL university entrance examination. A four-option multiple-choice reading test used for entrance screening at a university in Japan was later converted to a threeoption version by eliminating the least frequently endorsed option in each item, and was given to a separate group. Responses to the two tests indicated that using three options instead of four did not significantly change the mean item facility or the mean item discrimination. Distractor analyses revealed that whether four or three options were provided, the actual test-takers'responses spread, on the average, over about 2.6 options per item, that the mean number of functioning distractors was much lower than 2, and that reducing the least popular option had only a minimal effect on the performance of the remaining options. These results suggested that three-option items performed nearly as well as their four-option counterparts.
著者
靜 哲人 望月 正道
出版者
一般社団法人大学英語教育学会
雑誌
JACET JOURNAL (ISSN:02858673)
巻号頁・発行日
no.58, pp.121-141, 2014-03-31

This paper reports on the development and validation of a new English placement test specifically designed for Japanese university students. After discussing problems with EFL placement tests currently used at tertiary institutions in Japan, the paper describes the concepts, specifications, and development process of the new test. It then presents the results of validation attempts based on the response data collected from a sample of 1,800 Japanese EFL learners. The main findings are: (a) the test exhibits a very high Rasch person reliability of .94, with its items well targeted for the intended population; (b) the test consists of items with quite a wide range of difficulty and those difficulties are invariant across sub-samples; (c) the test produced substantially different mean scores for the 18 institutions at which the participants were enrolled; (d) the test exhibits a high criterion-related validity against the TOEIC^[○!R] test, predicting 68% of its total score variance; and (e) the test data show the best fit to a three-factor correlated model. The paper concludes with the interpretation that the evidence gathered illustrates the validity of the new test.
著者
靜 哲人
出版者
関東甲信越英語教育学会
雑誌
関東甲信越英語教育学会誌 (ISSN:21858993)
巻号頁・発行日
no.25, pp.1-10, 2011-03-01

This study explored the relationships between prospective EFL teachers' beliefs about pronunciation teaching and their self-perceived pronunciation ability. Fifty-four Japanese students at the faculty of education at a national university in eastern Japan completed a 15-week EFL teaching methodology course, in which one of the main focuses was to get them to appreciate the importance of good-enough pronunciation and to improve their pronunciation skills. At the end of the course, the students answered 7-point Likert scale questions on the pre- and post-course beliefs about pronunciation teaching as well as those on their pre- and post-course self-perceived pronunciation abilities. The results indicated that prior to the course the strength of negative beliefs about pronunciation teaching was negatively correlated with one's self-perceived pronunciation ability but that through the course the students generally became more positive toward pronunciation teaching and more confident in their own pronunciation skills. There was a weak correlation between the degree of change in pronunciation-related negative beliefs and that in self-rated pronunciation ability both induced by the course.