Developing C-tests for Estimating Proficiency in Foreign Language Research

This book explores the development of C-tests for providing efficient measures of foreign language proficiency in eight different languages: Arabic, Bangla, Japanese, Korean, Turkish, French, Portuguese, and Spanish. Researchers report on how C-test principles were applied in creating the new language tests, with careful attention to language-specific challenges and solutions. The final, five-text C-tests in all languages demonstrated impressive psychometric qualities as well as strong relationships with criterion variables such as learner self-assessments and instructional levels. These test development projects provide new tests for use by foreign language researchers, and they demonstrate innovative and rigorous test development practices in diverse languages.

John M. Norris is Senior Research Director at the Educational Testing Service, in the USA. He holds a Ph.D. in Second Language Acquisition. He has worked as a professor at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and at Georgetown University, and as assessment specialist at Northern Arizona University.