Harsch, Claudia and Rupp, Andrea Alexander. (2011) Designing and scaling level-specific writing tasks in alignment with the CEFR: a test-centered approach. Language Assessment Quarterly, Vol.8 (No.1). pp. 1-33. ISSN 1543-4311

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Abstract

The Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR; Council of Europe, 2001) provides a competency model that is increasingly used as a point of reference to compare language examinations. Nevertheless, aligning examinations to the CEFR proficiency levels remains a challenge. In this article, we propose a new, level-centered approach to designing and aligning writing tasks in line with the CEFR levels. Much work has been done on assessing writing via tasks spanning over several levels of proficiency but little research on a level-specific approach, where one task targets one specific proficiency level. In our study, situated in a large-scale assessment project where such a level-specific approach was employed, we investigate the influence of the design factors tasks, assessment criteria, raters, and student proficiency on the variability of ratings, using descriptive statistics, generalizability theory, and multifaceted Rasch modeling. Results show that the level-specific approach yields plausible inferences about task difficulty, rater harshness, rating criteria difficulty, and student distribution. Moreover, Rasch analyses show a high level of consistency between a priori task classifications in terms of CEFR levels and empirical task difficulty estimates. This allows for a test-centered approach to standard setting by suggesting empirically grounded cut-scores in line with the CEFR proficiency levels targeted by the tasks.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Subjects:	L Education > LB Theory and practice of education P Language and Literature > P Philology. Linguistics
Divisions:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Centre for Applied Linguistics
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	CEFTrain Project, Language and languages -- Study and teaching, Language and languages -- Ability testing, Language and languages -- Study and teaching -- Germany , Language and languages -- Ability testing -- Germany
Journal or Publication Title:	Language Assessment Quarterly
Publisher:	Routledge
ISSN:	1543-4311
Date:	2011
Volume:	Vol.8
Number:	No.1
Number of Pages:	33
Page Range:	pp. 1-33
Identification Number:	10.1080/15434303.2010.535575
Status:	Peer Reviewed
Publication Status:	Published
Access rights to Published version:	Open Access
URI:	http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/36924

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