Incongruence Between Native and Test Administration Languages: Towards Equal Opportunity in International Literacy Assessment

Patriann Smith; Paul Frazier; Jaehoon Lee; Rong Chang

Incongruence Between Native and Test Administration Languages: Towards Equal Opportunity in International Literacy Assessment

Patriann Smith, Paul Frazier, Jaehoon Lee, Rong Chang

University of South Florida

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

 Previous research has primarily addressed the effects of language on the Program
 for International Student Assessment (PISA) mathematics and science
 assessments. More recent research has focused on the effects of language on PISA
 reading comprehension and literacy assessments on student populations in specific
 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and non-
 OECD countries. Recognizing calls to highlight the impact of language on student
 PISA reading performance across countries, the purpose of this study was to
 examine the effect of home languages versus test languages on PISA reading
 literacy across OECD and non-OECD economies, while considering other factors.
 The results of Ordinary Least Squares regression showed that about half of the
 economies demonstrated a positive and significant effect of students’ language
 status on their reading performance. This finding is consistent with observations in
 the parallel analysis of PISA 2009 data, suggesting that students’ performance on
 reading literacy assessment was higher when they were tested in their home language. Our findings highlight the importance of the role of context, the need for
 new approaches to test translation, and the potential similarities in language status
 for youth from OECD and non-OECD countries that have implications for
 interpreting their PISA reading literacy assessments.

Original language	American English
Journal	International Journal of Testing
State	Published - 2018

Keywords

testing
literacy
PISA
OECD
reading literacy
language
cultural
international
assessment

Disciplines

Education
Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education
Curriculum and Instruction
International and Comparative Education
Language and Literacy Education
Social and Behavioral Sciences
Linguistics
Social Justice

Cite this

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title = "Incongruence Between Native and Test Administration Languages: Towards Equal Opportunity in International Literacy Assessment",

abstract = " Previous research has primarily addressed the effects of language on the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) mathematics and science assessments. More recent research has focused on the effects of language on PISA reading comprehension and literacy assessments on student populations in specific Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and non- OECD countries. Recognizing calls to highlight the impact of language on student PISA reading performance across countries, the purpose of this study was to examine the effect of home languages versus test languages on PISA reading literacy across OECD and non-OECD economies, while considering other factors. The results of Ordinary Least Squares regression showed that about half of the economies demonstrated a positive and significant effect of students{\textquoteright} language status on their reading performance. This finding is consistent with observations in the parallel analysis of PISA 2009 data, suggesting that students{\textquoteright} performance on reading literacy assessment was higher when they were tested in their home language. Our findings highlight the importance of the role of context, the need for new approaches to test translation, and the potential similarities in language status for youth from OECD and non-OECD countries that have implications for interpreting their PISA reading literacy assessments.",

keywords = "testing, literacy, PISA, OECD, reading literacy, language, cultural, international, assessment",

author = "Patriann Smith and Paul Frazier and Jaehoon Lee and Rong Chang",

note = "Smith, P., Frazier, P., Lee, J., Chang, R. (2018). Incongruence between native and test administration languages: Towards equal opportunity in international literacy assessment. International Journal of Testing, 18(3), 276-296.",

year = "2018",

language = "American English",

journal = "International Journal of Testing",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - Incongruence Between Native and Test Administration Languages: Towards Equal Opportunity in International Literacy Assessment

AU - Smith, Patriann

AU - Frazier, Paul

AU - Lee, Jaehoon

AU - Chang, Rong

N1 - Smith, P., Frazier, P., Lee, J., Chang, R. (2018). Incongruence between native and test administration languages: Towards equal opportunity in international literacy assessment. International Journal of Testing, 18(3), 276-296.

PY - 2018

Y1 - 2018

N2 - Previous research has primarily addressed the effects of language on the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) mathematics and science assessments. More recent research has focused on the effects of language on PISA reading comprehension and literacy assessments on student populations in specific Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and non- OECD countries. Recognizing calls to highlight the impact of language on student PISA reading performance across countries, the purpose of this study was to examine the effect of home languages versus test languages on PISA reading literacy across OECD and non-OECD economies, while considering other factors. The results of Ordinary Least Squares regression showed that about half of the economies demonstrated a positive and significant effect of students’ language status on their reading performance. This finding is consistent with observations in the parallel analysis of PISA 2009 data, suggesting that students’ performance on reading literacy assessment was higher when they were tested in their home language. Our findings highlight the importance of the role of context, the need for new approaches to test translation, and the potential similarities in language status for youth from OECD and non-OECD countries that have implications for interpreting their PISA reading literacy assessments.

AB - Previous research has primarily addressed the effects of language on the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) mathematics and science assessments. More recent research has focused on the effects of language on PISA reading comprehension and literacy assessments on student populations in specific Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and non- OECD countries. Recognizing calls to highlight the impact of language on student PISA reading performance across countries, the purpose of this study was to examine the effect of home languages versus test languages on PISA reading literacy across OECD and non-OECD economies, while considering other factors. The results of Ordinary Least Squares regression showed that about half of the economies demonstrated a positive and significant effect of students’ language status on their reading performance. This finding is consistent with observations in the parallel analysis of PISA 2009 data, suggesting that students’ performance on reading literacy assessment was higher when they were tested in their home language. Our findings highlight the importance of the role of context, the need for new approaches to test translation, and the potential similarities in language status for youth from OECD and non-OECD countries that have implications for interpreting their PISA reading literacy assessments.

KW - testing

KW - literacy

KW - PISA

KW - OECD

KW - reading literacy

KW - language

KW - cultural

KW - international

KW - assessment

M3 - Article

JO - International Journal of Testing

JF - International Journal of Testing

ER -