Diagnostic Language Tests
While working on a high-stakes language test in Korea, I was frequently asked by test-takers: "How do I improve my score?" I realized I did not have a good answer for them. There are certainly plenty of classes that claim to help improve test scores, but these rarely deliver as well as they could, and also tend to focus on test-taking strategies rather than knowledge or skills. Because it is impractical to completely do away with large-scale testing, I decided to explore other areas of education: one that caught my attention is using diagnostic testing to bridge the gap between the classroom and large-scale tests. My applied linguistics M.A. thesis was on using Processability Theory to develop a diagnostic test for Korean junior high students (in Korea, this level is called middle school students). I plan to develop a different diagnostic test with my dissertation.
Below is a link to my MA thesis and related posters/presentations.
Below is a link to my MA thesis and related posters/presentations.