Test de Francais Laval-Montreal: does it measure what it should measure?

This article reports on a study conducted as part of a larger investigation of the predictive validity of the Test de Francais Laval-Montreal (TFLM), a high-stakes French language test used for admission and placement purposes for Teacher-Training Programs (TTPs) in major francophone universities in...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:TESL Canada journal 2015-06, Vol.32 (SI9), p.87
Main Authors: Schmitt, Romain, Saif, Shahrzad
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Analysis
College Admission
College admissions
Construct Validity
Educational research
Foreign Countries
French
French as a second language instruction
French language
High Stakes Tests
Language Skills
Language Tests
Language Usage
Linguistics
Predictive Validity
Preservice Teachers
Quebec (Montreal)
Student Placement
Student teachers
Study and teaching
Task Analysis
Teacher education
Teacher Education Programs
Test validity and reliability
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Summary:This article reports on a study conducted as part of a larger investigation of the predictive validity of the Test de Francais Laval-Montreal (TFLM), a high-stakes French language test used for admission and placement purposes for Teacher-Training Programs (TTPs) in major francophone universities in Canada (Schmitt, 2015). The objective of this study is to examine the validity of TFLM tasks for measuring language abilities required by tasks common to the Target Language Use (TLU; Bachman & Palmer, 2010) domains in which preservice teachers are expected to function. Adopting Messick's conception of construct validity (1989) and Bachman & Palmer's Framework of Task Characteristics (2010), the study features a comprehensive task analysis detailing the characteristics of TFLM tasks in contrast to those of three major TLU academic and instructional contexts linked to the test. The results of the study are discussed in terms of the standards of validity (Messick, 1996) and qualities of usefulness (Bachman & Palmer, 1996). Findings suggest that TFLM tasks and constructs do not represent those of the TLU contexts and do not address the language needs of preservice teachers as identified by the Ministere de YEducation, du Loisir et du Sport (MELS). The implications for the consequential aspect of TFLM validity and the potential negative consequences of TFLM use as an admission test are discussed.
ISSN:0826-435X
1925-8917