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Analyzing and Comparing Reading Stimulus Materials Across the TOEFL Family of Assessments TOEFL iBT TOEFL

Author(s):
Chen, Jing; Sheehan, Kathleen M.
Publication Year:
2015
Report Number:
TOEFLiBT-26
Source:
ETS Research Report
Document Type:
Report
Page Count:
14
Subject/Key Words:
TextEvaluator, Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), Text Analysis, Text Complexity, TOEFL Primary, TOEFL Junior, TOEFL iBT

Abstract

For each TOEFL reading passage, TextEvaluator provides an overall complexity score and 8 component scores that measure text complexity in specific domains. The results suggest that the overall complexity scores of the reading passages selected for use at different test levels are significantly different. According to the analysis of the component scores, the TOEFL Primary, TOEFL Junior, and TOEFL iBT passages are similar with respect to some aspects of text variation and distinct with respect to others. Score ranges based on the distributions of the overall complexity scores and the distributions of the component scores of all the passages at each test level can be used as guidelines to develop or select new passages.

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