The development of a listening test for learners of Turkish as a foreign language

Abstract

The aim of this study is to report the development and validation process of a listening test for learners of Turkish as a foreign language (TFL). The test tasks developed for this study ranged from A1 to B2 levels according to the Common European Framework of Reference for languages (CEFR, Council of Europe, 2001) and the test was administered in two pilot sessions to learners of TFL at Boğaziçi University. Weir’s (2005) socio-cognitive framework for validating language tests and Field’s (2013) model of listening comprehension were the two major frameworks adopted for test validation and development in this study. For investigation of validity, the test tasks and the test takers’ responses to the test tasks were analyzed in terms of three essential components of Weir’s framework, i.e. theory-based validity, context validity and scoring validity. Theory-based validity is examined according to the cognitive requirements specified in Field’s listening model and the CEFR descriptors for listening. Contextual features of the tasks were scrutinized based on the contextual parameters outlined by Weir (2005). Investigation of scoring validity of the test takers’ responses was conducted through classical item analysis procedures, i.e. central tendency measures, reliability and item analysis. In addition to these analyses, the task evaluation questionnaires given the participants for each task provided valuable quantitative data for cognitive, context and scoring validity. In the light of discussions provided throughout the study based on qualitative and quantitative data, suggestions for the future versions of the test and further research were also mentioned.