Alignment To CEFR And IELTS: The CELPAD IIUM Initiative

The English Language Proficiency Test (EPT) has been in place at the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) since the inception of the University in 1983. It has a longer history than the Malaysian University English Test (MUET), a national standardized English language proficiency test, w...

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Main Authors:	Abu Kassim, Noor Lide, Zubairi, Ainol Madziah, Sarudin, Isarji
Format:	Conference or Workshop Item
Language:	English
Published:	2018
Subjects:	L Education (General)
Online Access:	http://irep.iium.edu.my/71417/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/71417/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/71417/1/71417_Alignment%20To%20CEFR.pdf

id	iium-71417
recordtype	eprints
spelling	iium-714172019-03-29T08:17:21Z http://irep.iium.edu.my/71417/ Alignment To CEFR And IELTS: The CELPAD IIUM Initiative Abu Kassim, Noor Lide Zubairi, Ainol Madziah Sarudin, Isarji L Education (General) The English Language Proficiency Test (EPT) has been in place at the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) since the inception of the University in 1983. It has a longer history than the Malaysian University English Test (MUET), a national standardized English language proficiency test, which was first introduced in 1999 by the Malaysian Examinations Council. The EPT, which was first developed as a single test to determine the English language proficiency of incoming students, went through a number of revisions to complement the changes made to the curriculum of the English language support courses at the IIUM. After its last major revision, 25 years ago, the EPT is now going through a major transformation; the alignment to the Common European Framework (CEFR) and the IELTS. This paper describes how the construct alignment of EPT Reading Subtest to the CEFR Levels and IELTS was implemented and also its validation which was based on a pilot test involving 754 test takers and 40 reading test items covering nine reading subskills. Rasch analysis of the pilot data indicated that the targeting of the items generally support the construct alignment. However, the presence of off-target items suggests possible interaction effects between item format and test takers’ characteristics. Item developers’ intuitive impression that the first reading passage, targeted at B1, would be more challenging than the second passage, which was targeted at B2, was also confirmed. Overall, the results look promising and efforts are being made for better alignment to the CEFR and the IELTS. 2018-10-22 Conference or Workshop Item NonPeerReviewed application/pdf en http://irep.iium.edu.my/71417/1/71417_Alignment%20To%20CEFR.pdf Abu Kassim, Noor Lide and Zubairi, Ainol Madziah and Sarudin, Isarji (2018) Alignment To CEFR And IELTS: The CELPAD IIUM Initiative. In: 6th British Council New Directions in English Language Assessment Conference: Standards in Learning Systems 2018, 22nd-23rd October 2018, Kuala Lumpur. (Unpublished) https://www.britishcouncil.my/new-directions
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Local University
institution	International Islamic University Malaysia
building	IIUM Repository
collection	Online Access
language	English
topic	L Education (General)
spellingShingle	L Education (General) Abu Kassim, Noor Lide Zubairi, Ainol Madziah Sarudin, Isarji Alignment To CEFR And IELTS: The CELPAD IIUM Initiative
description	The English Language Proficiency Test (EPT) has been in place at the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) since the inception of the University in 1983. It has a longer history than the Malaysian University English Test (MUET), a national standardized English language proficiency test, which was first introduced in 1999 by the Malaysian Examinations Council. The EPT, which was first developed as a single test to determine the English language proficiency of incoming students, went through a number of revisions to complement the changes made to the curriculum of the English language support courses at the IIUM. After its last major revision, 25 years ago, the EPT is now going through a major transformation; the alignment to the Common European Framework (CEFR) and the IELTS. This paper describes how the construct alignment of EPT Reading Subtest to the CEFR Levels and IELTS was implemented and also its validation which was based on a pilot test involving 754 test takers and 40 reading test items covering nine reading subskills. Rasch analysis of the pilot data indicated that the targeting of the items generally support the construct alignment. However, the presence of off-target items suggests possible interaction effects between item format and test takers’ characteristics. Item developers’ intuitive impression that the first reading passage, targeted at B1, would be more challenging than the second passage, which was targeted at B2, was also confirmed. Overall, the results look promising and efforts are being made for better alignment to the CEFR and the IELTS.
format	Conference or Workshop Item
author	Abu Kassim, Noor Lide Zubairi, Ainol Madziah Sarudin, Isarji
author_facet	Abu Kassim, Noor Lide Zubairi, Ainol Madziah Sarudin, Isarji
author_sort	Abu Kassim, Noor Lide
title	Alignment To CEFR And IELTS: The CELPAD IIUM Initiative
title_short	Alignment To CEFR And IELTS: The CELPAD IIUM Initiative
title_full	Alignment To CEFR And IELTS: The CELPAD IIUM Initiative
title_fullStr	Alignment To CEFR And IELTS: The CELPAD IIUM Initiative
title_full_unstemmed	Alignment To CEFR And IELTS: The CELPAD IIUM Initiative
title_sort	alignment to cefr and ielts: the celpad iium initiative
publishDate	2018
url	http://irep.iium.edu.my/71417/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/71417/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/71417/1/71417_Alignment%20To%20CEFR.pdf
first_indexed	2023-09-18T21:41:17Z
last_indexed	2023-09-18T21:41:17Z
_version_	1777413156637769728

Alignment To CEFR And IELTS: The CELPAD IIUM Initiative

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