The effect of topic variation in performance testing: the case of the chemistry TEACH test for international teaching assistants

Abstract

Topic is believed to be an important test-method characteristic in many types of language tests. Some test developers choose neutral test topics in order to nullify the effect of background knowledge. Yet there is a need to determine how well prospective international teaching assistants can communicate within their own field. Recent studies have compared test results between general and field-specific oral English tests. Yet field-specific performance tests for international teaching assistants often provide different topics within the same field for each examinee, assuming equivalency between topics. The comparison of general topics versus field-specific topics is unable to capture the full effect of topic. This study reports research into topic features and the effect topic variation has on a performance test, the chemistry TEACH test, designed for intrnational teaching assistants. Results suggest a relationship between topic of input (as defined by the topic features of concepts, math and calculations) and test scores on the chemistry TEACH test.

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