Assessing English as an International Language for Government Officials

Abstract

The function of English as an international language (hereafter called EIL) is firmly entrenched in many aspects of modern life, such as academia, aviation, business, education, international relations, science, and tourism. This trend has led high-stakes English language proficiency tests to serve increasingly critical gate-keeping roles for people seeking admission to tertiary institutions, employment overseas, and career advancement. However, while language tests focus on language proficiency, they do not measure the ability over and above core linguistic competence that enables and enhances successful international communication. As more and more English communication occurs between people from different language and cultural backgrounds, research and testing of these skills is warranted.

This thesis identifies receptive intelligibility (listening skills), productive intelligibility (speaking skills), intercultural competence, and strategic competence in negotiating meaning as key abilities that enhance the use of EIL. An investigation of these four abilities sets the groundwork for their conceptualization and operationalization into a test battery aimed at government officials from developing Asian and African countries who have gone through English-language training at Victoria University of Wellington. Results from classroom observations and a survey of the participant’s target language use tasks serve to highlight the contexts and purposes for which they use English, as well as providing the contexts for developing test tasks and items and conceptualizing skills used to improve international communication. The four abilities identified above were then operationalized into testable items for an online test battery consisting of four constructs and a total of 76 items. The purpose of this test battery is to serve as a low-stakes assessment tool for making decisions regarding the international communicative competence of government employees who use English for international communication.

The validation of the test battery uses the Bachman and Palmer (1996) approach for determining test usefulness, which is shaped by six test qualities. These qualities form a validation argument supported by evidence for construct validity, reliability, authenticity, interactiveness, practicality, and impact. Results from the validation of the test battery show that the correlation between the four constructs (receptive intelligibility, productive intelligibility, intercultural competence, and strategic competence) is positive, however each of the theoretical constructs was found to be much deeper and broader than the test battery is able to measure. Intercultural competence was found to be the least related to intelligibility and strategic competence, suggesting that intercultural problems are less immediate barriers to successful international communication.

The discussion focuses on the major issues with the test battery, such as construct under-representation, internal consistency problems and the logistical challenges of online testing. This thesis concludes with the methodological limitations of the test battery and suggestions for broadening and deepening test items to account for the complexity and multidimensionality of these four constructs. While the test needs further development, it is a first step into assessing the dynamic and fluid nature of English as an international language.