The Language Teacher
August 2000
Informational Seminar on the Computer-Based TOEFL
Robert L. Brock
Kokugakuin University
Starting from October 2000, the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) will be available in Japan as a new computer-based test, the TOEFL-CBT (see the advertisement in TLT May 2000 pp. 31-32). Whereas the pencil and paper test has been held only a few times a year, the computer-based test can be taken by appointment at a designated center, at a date and time to suit the candidate. One of the major changes is that every test will include an essay which is included in the score. The essay can be typed or hand written. Up to now the TOEFL essay (Test of Written English-TWE) has been optional and scored separately. Another change is that the TOEFL-CBT is computer-adaptive, which means that the computer program selects the level of difficulty of the next test item according to how many of the previous questions the candidate has answered correctly. The program is thus continually estimating the candidate's level and refining the accuracy of its estimate. The candidate's unofficial scores, except for the essay, are displayed immediately on the computer screen at the end of the test.
To introduce and explain these changes, Temple University in Tokyo hosted an informational seminar on May 20 with presentations by the Japan Language Testing Association (JLTA) and Educational Testing Service (ETS). Participants were welcomed by the Dean of Temple University Japan, Professor Richard Joslyn, who explained that Temple will be one of three testing centers in Tokyo. About 100 people attended, the great majority of whom were Japanese.
To inform participants of the theory behind TOEFL-CBT, Professors Randy Thrasher and Youichi Nakamura of JLTA gave a lecture in Japanese on "Basic Concepts in Language Testing." This was supplemented by both a booklet and slides in English. They first reviewed classical test theory and then went on to explain how item response theory can be used to yield sample-free calibration, where the estimate of a candidate's level of ability does not depend on the particular items he or she was tested on. This forms the basis of TOEFL-CBT's computeradaptive testing, where the program selects questions suitable to the apparent level of the candidate from a large pool of test items.
In the second part of the seminar, Gena Netten and Phil Everson of ETS reviewed the history of the TOEFL and explained what TOEFL-CBT now entails. With the assistance of Professor Yoshida of Sophia University, they also discussed how to prepare students for the test.
In future computer-testing centers, candidates will sit at individual workstations, each with volume-adjustable headphones. They first work through a tutorial on the use of the computer. Then the test commences with the listening section. During this part of the test the computer displays pictures which provide a context for the questions. While most questions remain multiple choice, some now require more than one answer. There are also new question types where candidates have to identify items depicted in a picture on the computer screen, select the correct order for a process, or sort items into categories. The structure section follows the listening section and both of them are computer-adaptive. After a five-minute break, candidates do the non-adaptive reading section and finish the test with their essay.
The TOEFL-CBTwas introduced in some countries in 1998. A comparison test on subjects taking both the pencil and paper test and the computer test showed no difference in group performance. The pencil and paper test will remain through the 20001 testing year and will continue to be administered in three remote centers in Japan. This test will include a compulsory TWE essay from July 2000. As the two versions of the TOEFL are concurrent and scores remain valid for two years, the two versions of the test have non-overlapping score ranges to differentiate them. However, results on one version can be matched with the other using concordance tables provided by ETS.
The room where the seminar was held will contain the computer testing center, which has not yet been installed. While Mr. Everson demonstrated how to answer questions on a screen projected from his laptop, participants could not get any hands-on experience themselves. This would have been useful -one person announced she would take the first available computer test in order to explain the procedure to her students.
Further information on TOEFL-CBT is available from the TOEFL website http://www.toefl.org, and sample material, the computer tutorial, and practice tests are available on CD-ROMs from ETS.
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