What to look for in ESL admission tests: Cambridge certificate exams, IELTS, and TOEFL

The article is intended to familiarize test-users with the issues they need to consider when employing assessments for screening/admission purposes. The article examines the purpose, content, and scoring methods of three English as a second language admission tests — the Cambridge certificate exams, International English Language Testing System, and Test of English as a foreign language-computer-based test — and discusses reliability and validity considerations salient to each instrument. The validity and reliability discussion is guided by the “Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing” (1999). The article indicates that the scores obtained from these assessments are used to help make critical decisions that affect test-takers’ lives. It is critical, therefore, that these scores provide high quality information. Developers of large-scale tests such as those reviewed in the present article have the responsibility to: construct instruments that meet professional standards; continue to investigate the properties of their instruments and the ensuing scores; and make test manuals, user guides and research documents available to the public. Test-users also have a responsibility. Test-users need to be cognizant of the properties of the instruments they employ and ensure appropriate interpretation and use of test scores provided. Test-users need to carry out local investigations to make sure that their admission requirements are based on an informed analysis of their academic programs and the language ability score profiles necessary to succeed in these programs.