Reliability in Language Assessment
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The Department of English seeks to provide all university students with the skills of effective communication and critical thinking, as well as imparting knowledge of literature, creative writing, linguistics, speech and technical communication to students within and outside of the department.
History
The Department of English and Speech was formed in 1939 from the merger of the Department of English and the Department of Public Speaking. In 1971 its name changed to the Department of English.
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1939-present
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- Department of English and Speech (1939-1971)
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- College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (parent college)
- Department of English (predecessor, 1898-1939)
- Department of Public Speaking (predecessor, 1898-1939)
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Abstract
Almost any test user will readily agree that tests should be valid and reliable, but if asked to explain what "reliability" means, most test users would be hard pressed, despite the widespread use of this measure in the documentation that accompanies language tests. Assessment experts would also agree that reliability is a central concern for interpreting assessment results, even to the point that it is an important part of most validity arguments. However, the experts would also point out that reliability is not a characteristic of a test, but rather a characteristic of test scores obtained from a given test administration or administrations.
Comments
This chapter is published as Chapelle, C.A. (2013). Reliability in Language Assessment. In C.A. Chapelle (Ed.), The Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics, (pp. 4918-4923). Oxford: Blackwell/Wiley. Posted with permission.