چکیده:
University of Tehran administers a test known as The University of Tehran English Proficiency Test (the UTEPT) to PhD candidates on a yearly basis. By definition, the test can be considered a high-stakes one. The validity of high stakes tests needs to be known (Roever, 2001). As Mesick (1988) maintains, if the validity of high stakes tests are not known, it might have some undesirable consequences for the society at large. To investigate the construct validity of the test, factor analysis was employed (Farahdy, 1983). The factor analysis of choice was exploratory factor analysis with varimx rotation strategy. In the reading section, the factor analysis produced eleven factors. Furthermore, the use of Principal Components Analysis (PCA) was complemented with Principal Axis Factoring (PAF). Overfactoring was an issue. This overfactoring can be attributed to the heterogeneous nature of items; different paradigms from which items were taken: iBT TOEFL, ILTES, and FCE.
خلاصه ماشینی:
"As for exploratory factor analysis, Bachman (1990) maintains, "In the exploratory mode, we attempt to identify the abilities, or traits that influence performance on tests by examining the correlations among a set of measures" (p.
In other words, if the total population is matched in terms of gender, let’s say, and the overall performance of the two groups is almost the same as determined by the mean comparisons of the two, any differential performance on specific items can attributed to the role of gender which is not related to the construct under study.
Research Question The research question addressed in the current study is as follows: Do the test items in the ‘Reading Comprehension’ section of the UTEPT distinctly measure various sub-skills?
, "Do the test items in reading comprehension section of the UTEPT distinctly measure various sub-skills?" exploratory factor analysis was performed.
The addition of this is also consonant with the call of the scholars in the field of language testing research to carry out other methods of factor analysis following or in place of Principal Components Analysis (e.
Extracted Factors on Reading Comprehension Items by Principal Components Analysis Component (View the image of this page) 4.
In other words, there is no difference in terms of the underlying traits as illustrated by the two factor analysis methods, because both extracted vocabulary items.
6- The researcher used factor analysis to provide evidence for the validity of a high stake test."