This report gives an overview of a five-year trial of the computer-adaptive English First Standard English Test (EF SET). The trial was originally conducted among small groups of first year Global Communication Department (GC) Writing Strategies (WS) course students and has since moved on to include Education Department (ED) Writing Strategies course students, the majority of second year General English (GE) course students from all departments, and third year International Communication Strategies (ICS) course Global Communication Department students at Hiroshima Bunkyo University. This free, online assessment provides students with a Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) aligned results certificate and claims correlation with both the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) and the International English Language Testing System (IELTS). It was hoped that this free, low stakes, i-Pad friendly assessment could be used to improve generally foreign language test-averse, non-English major students' awareness of the CEFR and their overall level within it, encourage continued study and learning throughout their four years of university, and provide external evidence of students' overall English progress. It was also considered as one way of checking the effectiveness and validity of our own in-house streaming and progress / achievement measuring Bunkyo English Test (BET). The EF SET’s methods of administration, effectiveness in achieving these goals, and future feasibility and implementation possibilities will all be discussed.
Richard Sugg (Fri,) studied this question.