The Ten-Minute Vocabulary Tests for Quick and Rough Estimates of General English Ability of Japanese EFL Learners II

Abstract

Through Katagiri (2000a, 2000c), using the test items of Mochizuki's (1998) Vocabulary Size Test and Item Response Theory (IRT), the new vocabulary teats based on word difficulty order with only 32 items which can be conducted in less than 10 minutes had been developed for quick and rough estimates of examinees' general English ability, and the new vocabulary tests which had three theoretical parallel Forms The purposes of this paper were (1) to examine the concurrent validity and the reliability of each Form of the new vocabulary tests as quick-and-rough-estimating English tests, (2) to examine whether the three Forms are actually parallel with one another, and (3) to present the readers (English teachers and language educational researchers) with the completed three Forms of the ten-minute Vocabulary tests for quick and rough estimates of general English ability of Japanese EFL learners (especially targeting senior high school students). 234 senior high school students took the three Forms of the new vocabulary tests and -Kawaiju-mogishiken (KJMS). Significant middle-high correlations were confirmed between each Form and KJMS; a high IRT reliability was affirmed on each Form. High correlations were confirmed among the three Forms; the same means of the test scores on Forms I and II were obtained, though Form III had a problem with the mean. It was concluded that (1) the concurrent validity and the reliability of each Form were confirmed as the tests for quick and rough estimates of general English abilities, (2) Forms I and II were actually parallel tests but Form III might have a problem in the difficulty (the mean of the test scores). Only Form III should be still pending; another experiment is necessary for reexamining whether Form III has the same difficulty as Forms I and Form II.