Investigating Underlying Factors in Measuring Lexical- Grammatical Knowledge for English Tests
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This study investigates how the English tests, the English Test for Certified Public Tax Accountants (ETCPTA) and the Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC),assess lexical-grammatical knowledge and confirms whether they share task characteristics in measuring lexical-grammatical knowledge as a means of screening Certified Public Tax Accountants (CPTA) in Korea. First, this study examines the extent to which lexicalgrammatical knowledge factors explain the variance of the observed test results for each test. Hypothesized factor models, including three single-factor models of structure, vocabulary, and structure and vocabulary knowledge, and a two-factor model of structure and vocabulary, were estimated to discover the most appropriate fit model for each test. Second, the study questions whether ETCPTA and TOEIC would be possibly interchangeable in their test design when assessing lexical-grammatical knowledge. CFA results confirmed that ETCPTA and TOEIC were characterized by the different factor structure when assessing lexical-grammatical knowledge. Firstly, judging from the Item-Level CFA results for ETCPTA, three hypothesized models were proved to be acceptable (the Single-Factor Model of Structure, the Single-Factor Model of Vocabulary, and the Two-Factor Model of Vocabulary and Structure). For TOEIC,however, two hypothesized models fit the data (the Single-Factor Model of Vocabulary and the Single-Factor Model of Structure and Vocabulary Knowledge). Secondly, one notable point in TOEIC’s favor is that the Single-Factor Model of Structure and Vocabulary Knowledge fits the data, suggesting that parts 5 and 6 can be combined into a single section depending on the CFA results. This indicated that for TOEIC, lexical-grammatical knowledge as a comprehensive term was perceived as being an underlying factor, while the ETCPTA test data were accounted for by the Single-Factor Model of Structure, the Single-Factor Model of Vocabulary, and the Two-Factor Model of Structure and Vocabulary, respectively, suggesting that independent structure and vocabulary knowledge were underlying factors on the ETCPTA data.
Abstract
This study investigates how the English tests, the English Test for Certified Public Tax Accountants (ETCPTA) and the Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC),assess lexical-grammatical knowledge and confirms whether they share task characteristics in measuring lexical-grammatical knowledge as a means of screening Certified Public Tax Accountants (CPTA) in Korea. First, this study examines the extent to which lexicalgrammatical knowledge factors explain the variance of the observed test results for each test. Hypothesized factor models, including three single-factor models of structure, vocabulary, and structure and vocabulary knowledge, and a two-factor model of structure and vocabulary, were estimated to discover the most appropriate fit model for each test. Second, the study questions whether ETCPTA and TOEIC would be possibly interchangeable in their test design when assessing lexical-grammatical knowledge. CFA results confirmed that ETCPTA and TOEIC were characterized by the different factor structure when assessing lexical-grammatical knowledge. Firstly, judging from the Item-Level CFA results for ETCPTA, three hypothesized models were proved to be acceptable (the Single-Factor Model of Structure, the Single-Factor Model of Vocabulary, and the Two-Factor Model of Vocabulary and Structure). For TOEIC,however, two hypothesized models fit the data (the Single-Factor Model of Vocabulary and the Single-Factor Model of Structure and Vocabulary Knowledge). Secondly, one notable point in TOEIC’s favor is that the Single-Factor Model of Structure and Vocabulary Knowledge fits the data, suggesting that parts 5 and 6 can be combined into a single section depending on the CFA results. This indicated that for TOEIC, lexical-grammatical knowledge as a comprehensive term was perceived as being an underlying factor, while the ETCPTA test data were accounted for by the Single-Factor Model of Structure, the Single-Factor Model of Vocabulary, and the Two-Factor Model of Structure and Vocabulary, respectively, suggesting that independent structure and vocabulary knowledge were underlying factors on the ETCPTA data.
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