Can Diagnosing University Students’ English Proficiency Facilitate Language Development?

Abstract

The effectiveness of a language test to meaningfully diagnose a learner’s language proficiency remains in some doubt. Alderson (2005) claims that diagnostic tests are superficial because they do not inform learners what they need to do in order to develop; “they just identify strengths and weaknesses and their remediation” (p.1). In other words, a test cannot claim to be diagnostic unless it facilitates language development in the learner. In response to the perceived need for a mechanism to both provide diagnostic information and specific language support, four Hong Kong universities have developed the Diagnostic English Language Tracking Assessment (DELTA), which could be said to be meaningfully diagnostic because it is both integrated into the English language learning curriculum and used in combination with follow-up learning resources to guide independent learning. This chapter reports ongoing research into the effectiveness of DELTA to support students’ efforts to improve their English language proficiency while at university. Specifically, the chapter reports on a study of students who have taken DELTA more than once and for whom it is possible to measure growth through the DELTA’s use of Rasch modeling. The students were surveyed to determine the English language enhancement activities that they engaged in during the period in which the growth was observed, including their use of the report provided to them after taking the DELTA.