VSTEP LISTENING TEST VALIDATION: TEST TAKERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF CONTEXT VALIDITY

Abstract

ABSTRACT To bridge the gap into the validation research of VSTEP Test in particular and high-stakes Listening Test in general, this research aims to reveal test-takers’ perceptions towards the VSTEP Listening test’s context validity. It adopted the sequential explanatorymix-methodsdesign, which is a combination of both quantitative and qualitative research strictly in this order. Through convenience sampling, a questionnaire survey was conducted among 80 test-takers who were mainly female third and fourth year students at University of Languages and International Studies – Vietnam National University, among whom 8 were invited for follow-up interviews. As regards the VSTEP Listening test’s context validity,fairly positive responses from participants were recorded.More specifically, the most positive results were given to the test’s clarity of instruction; test-takers’ awareness of test purposes; familiarity of exchange types in the recordings; and test invigilators’ fair treatment of all test-takers. Meanwhile,the less positive responses mainly focused on the test’sexclusive use of multiple choice format, duration of time for previewing and processing answers, authenticity, overall reliability of the test results and the quality of listening equipment. In light of such findings, it is recommended that the examination board should take into consideration a variety of response format, extra allowance of previewing time, standardization of test venue and means of transmission.