Behind the Scores: In Search of the Predictive Validity of O-NET Scores to Academic Achievements of English Major Students
Article Sidebar
Published:
Aug 30, 2019
Keywords:
O-NET Language assessment Predictive validity High-stakes testing Academic achievements
Main Article Content
Abstract
Ordinary National Educational Test (O-NET), a high-stakes test, is used for the purpose of accountability in Thai educational system, evaluating academic performance of students and a gate-keeper to recruit prospective candidates into certain programs of universities in Thailand. Even though the test has been widely used to serve the latter, there is a need for empirical evidence to prove its predictive validity and to investigate lecturers’ attitude towards the O-NET. This study investigated 1) the relationship between O-NET scores and academic achievements, 2) its predictive validity and 3) lecturers’ attitudes towards the use of the O-NET for recruiting students into an English major program of a public university in Thailand. The samples were the O-NET scores in foreign language (English) and academic achievements from academic years 2010 to 2014. Nine lecturers were purposively selected to participate in the semi-structured interview. The resuts demonstrated that the O-NET score was related to academic achievements and could predict academic achievements of English major students. Moreover, the lecturers believed that the O-NET was an effective instrument for recruiting students to English major program.
Article Details
How to Cite
Pensiri, A., & Adunyarittigun, D. (2019). Behind the Scores: In Search of the Predictive Validity of O-NET Scores to Academic Achievements of English Major Students. Journal of Studies in the English Language, 14(2), 17–48. Retrieved from https://so04.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/jsel/article/view/203780
Section
Research Articles
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms: Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
References
Arwae, P., Premprat, M., & Phincharean, P. (2014). Relationship among secondary eduction’s learning achievement, examination score, university education’s learning achievement, and academic achievement graduates at prince of Songkla University, Pattani Campus (Academic year 2003-2007). Songklanakarin journal of social sciences and humanities, 20(2), 245-272.
Bachman, L. F., & Palmer, A. S. (2010). Language assessment in practice. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
Bailey, K. M. (1996). Working for washback: A review of the washback concept in language testing. Language Testing, 13(3), 257 - 279.
Borg, W. R., & Gall, M. D. (1989). Educational research: An introduction (5th ed.). New York, NY: Longman.
Brown, D., & Abeywickrama, P. (2010). Language assessment, principles and classroom practice (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Pearson.
Brown, J., & Rodgers, T. (2002). Doing second language research. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
Cronbach, L. J., & Meehl, P. E. (1955). Construct validity in psychological tests. Psychological Bulletin, 52(4), 281-302. doi:10.1037/h0040957
Cohen, L., Manion, L., & Morrison, K. (2011). Research methods in education. New York, NY: Routledge.
Coleman, J. S. (1969). Equality and achievement in education. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
Coombe, C. A., Davidson, P., O’Sullivan, B., & Stoynoff, S. (2012). The Cambridge guide to second language assessment. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Creswell, J. W. (2003). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods approaches (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
. (2009). Educational research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research. Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
Daller, M., & Phelan, D. (2013). Predicting international student study success. Applied Linguistics Review, 4(1), 173-193.
Dooye, P., & Rhonda O. (2002). An investigation into the predictive validity of the IELTS Test as an indicator of future academic success. Prospect, 17(1). 36–54.
Doye, P. (1991). Authenticity in foreign language testing. In S. Anivan (Ed.), Current developments in language testing. Singapore: SEAMEO Regional Language Centre, 103–10.
Drost, E. A. (2011) Validity and reliability in social science research. Education Research and Perspectives, 38(1), 105- 123.
Farah, Y. (2013). Through another’s eyes: Modification or accommodation in standardized testing?. Gifted Child Today, 36(3), 209-212.
Fraenkel, J. R., & Wallen, N. E. (2007). How to design and evaluate research in education. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.
Getkham, K. (1992). Relationships among the results of the university entrance examinations in English, of the English placement test and of the foundation English achievement tests of Kasetsart freshmen in 1989 and 1990. Proceedings of the 31st Kasetsart University Annual Conference: Home Economics, Science, Engineering, Agro-Industry, Economics and Business Administration, Education, Humanities, Natural Resources and Environmental Economics, 14(2), 528-526.
Graham, J. G. (1987). English language proficiency and the prediction of academic success. TESOL Quarterly, 21(2), 505–521.
Phelps, P. R. (2005). Defending standardized testing. Mahwah, NJ:United States: Lawrence.
Harmer, J. (2007). The practice of English language teaching. Harlow, England : Pearson.
Harris, P., Smith, B., & Harris, J. (2011). The myths of standardized tests: Why they don’t tell you what you think they do. Maryland, United States: The Rowman & Littlefield.
Harrison, A. (1991). A language testing handbook. (5th ed.). London, England: Macmillan.
Hatcher, L. (2013). Advanced statistics in research: Reading, understanding, and writing up data analysis results. Saginaw, MI: Shadow Finch Media, LLC.
Healey, J. F., Prus, S. G., & Lieflander, R. (2019). Statistics: A tool for social research. Toronto, Ontario: Nelson.
Henry, P. (2007). The case against standardized testing. Minnesota English Journal, 43, 39-71.
Herman, L. J. & Golan, S. (1993). Effects of standardized testing on teachers and learning. Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice, 38(2),20-25.
Huck, S. W. (2014). Reading statistics and research. Harlow, England: Pearson.
Hughes, A. (2010). Testing for language teachers. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Johnson, R. A., & Wichern, D. W. (2007). Applied Multivariate Statistical Analysis (6th ed.). New York, NY: Pearson.
Krungsaenmuang, M. (2006). A prediction of learning achievement of Chulalongkorn University students admitted through the central university admission system (Master’s thesis). Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand.
Lee, Y. J., & Greene, J. (2007). The predictive validity of an ESL placement test, Journal of Mixed Methods Research, 1(4). 366–389.
Light, L. R., Xu, M., & Mossop, J. (1987). English proficiency and academic performance of international students. TESOL Quarterly, 21(2). 251–261.
McNamara, T. (2000). Language testing (2nd ed.). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Meetess, S., Iramaneerat, C., & Thongprong, S. (2013). Predicting academic achievement of students in the nursing assistant certificate program, Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University. Siriraj Medical Journal, 6(2), 76-84.
Messick, S. (1996). Validity and washback in language testing. Language Testing, 13, 241-256.
Mihaela, V., & Alina-Oana, B. (2015). (When) Teachers’ pedagogical beliefs are changing? Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences,180, 1001-1006. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.02.191
Ngamsuntikul, R. (2015). A prediction of learning achievement of department of mathematics, Faculty of Science, Srinakharinwirot University students admitted through direct examination. Journal of Research on Science, Technology and Environment for Learning, 6(2), 127-140.
Thomas, M. (2013). Teachers’ beliefs about classroom teaching – teachers’ knowledge and teaching approaches. Procedia- Social and Behavioral Sciences, 89, 31-39. doi:10.1016/ j.sbspro.2013.08.805
Poovudhikul, V. (2013). The effects of the Thai college admissions system on private tutoring expenditure, income and achievement disparities. (Master’s thesis). Stanford University, CA, United States of America. Retrieved from https://economics. stanford.edu/sites/default/files/publications/venussapoovud- hikulhonors_thesis-may2013.pdf
Ritchey, F. (2000). The statistical imagination: Elementary statistics for the social sciences. New York, NY: The McGraw-Hill. Richard, J. C. (2001). Approaches to evaluation: Curriculum development in language teaching. Cambridge, UK:
Cambridge University Press.
Sawyer, R. (2013). Beyond correlations: Usefulness of high school GPA and test scores in making college admissions decisions, Applied Measurement in Education, 26(2), 89-112,DOI: 10.1080/08957347.2013.765433
Sanguanrungsirikul, D. (2011). A prediction of learning achievement of King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi Students Admitted Throught Central University Admission System. KMUTT Research and Development Journal, 34, 431-441.
Spolsky, B. (1985). The limits of authenticity in language testing. Language Testing, 2(1), 31-40.
Van Nelson, C., Nelson, J. S., & Malone, B. G. (2004). Predicting success of international graduate students in an academic university. College and University Journal, 80(1), 19–27.
Weir, C. (1990). Communicative language testing. New York, NY: Prentice Hall.
Woodrow, L. (2006). Academic success of international postgraduate education students and the role of English proficiency. University of Sydney Papers in TESOL, 1, 51–70.
Wittaya-u-dom, W. (2013). A study of the predictive validity of GAT, PAT, O-NET factor scores and GPAX for university admission. OJED, 8(1), 1096-1110.
Bachman, L. F., & Palmer, A. S. (2010). Language assessment in practice. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
Bailey, K. M. (1996). Working for washback: A review of the washback concept in language testing. Language Testing, 13(3), 257 - 279.
Borg, W. R., & Gall, M. D. (1989). Educational research: An introduction (5th ed.). New York, NY: Longman.
Brown, D., & Abeywickrama, P. (2010). Language assessment, principles and classroom practice (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Pearson.
Brown, J., & Rodgers, T. (2002). Doing second language research. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
Cronbach, L. J., & Meehl, P. E. (1955). Construct validity in psychological tests. Psychological Bulletin, 52(4), 281-302. doi:10.1037/h0040957
Cohen, L., Manion, L., & Morrison, K. (2011). Research methods in education. New York, NY: Routledge.
Coleman, J. S. (1969). Equality and achievement in education. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
Coombe, C. A., Davidson, P., O’Sullivan, B., & Stoynoff, S. (2012). The Cambridge guide to second language assessment. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Creswell, J. W. (2003). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods approaches (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
. (2009). Educational research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research. Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
Daller, M., & Phelan, D. (2013). Predicting international student study success. Applied Linguistics Review, 4(1), 173-193.
Dooye, P., & Rhonda O. (2002). An investigation into the predictive validity of the IELTS Test as an indicator of future academic success. Prospect, 17(1). 36–54.
Doye, P. (1991). Authenticity in foreign language testing. In S. Anivan (Ed.), Current developments in language testing. Singapore: SEAMEO Regional Language Centre, 103–10.
Drost, E. A. (2011) Validity and reliability in social science research. Education Research and Perspectives, 38(1), 105- 123.
Farah, Y. (2013). Through another’s eyes: Modification or accommodation in standardized testing?. Gifted Child Today, 36(3), 209-212.
Fraenkel, J. R., & Wallen, N. E. (2007). How to design and evaluate research in education. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.
Getkham, K. (1992). Relationships among the results of the university entrance examinations in English, of the English placement test and of the foundation English achievement tests of Kasetsart freshmen in 1989 and 1990. Proceedings of the 31st Kasetsart University Annual Conference: Home Economics, Science, Engineering, Agro-Industry, Economics and Business Administration, Education, Humanities, Natural Resources and Environmental Economics, 14(2), 528-526.
Graham, J. G. (1987). English language proficiency and the prediction of academic success. TESOL Quarterly, 21(2), 505–521.
Phelps, P. R. (2005). Defending standardized testing. Mahwah, NJ:United States: Lawrence.
Harmer, J. (2007). The practice of English language teaching. Harlow, England : Pearson.
Harris, P., Smith, B., & Harris, J. (2011). The myths of standardized tests: Why they don’t tell you what you think they do. Maryland, United States: The Rowman & Littlefield.
Harrison, A. (1991). A language testing handbook. (5th ed.). London, England: Macmillan.
Hatcher, L. (2013). Advanced statistics in research: Reading, understanding, and writing up data analysis results. Saginaw, MI: Shadow Finch Media, LLC.
Healey, J. F., Prus, S. G., & Lieflander, R. (2019). Statistics: A tool for social research. Toronto, Ontario: Nelson.
Henry, P. (2007). The case against standardized testing. Minnesota English Journal, 43, 39-71.
Herman, L. J. & Golan, S. (1993). Effects of standardized testing on teachers and learning. Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice, 38(2),20-25.
Huck, S. W. (2014). Reading statistics and research. Harlow, England: Pearson.
Hughes, A. (2010). Testing for language teachers. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Johnson, R. A., & Wichern, D. W. (2007). Applied Multivariate Statistical Analysis (6th ed.). New York, NY: Pearson.
Krungsaenmuang, M. (2006). A prediction of learning achievement of Chulalongkorn University students admitted through the central university admission system (Master’s thesis). Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand.
Lee, Y. J., & Greene, J. (2007). The predictive validity of an ESL placement test, Journal of Mixed Methods Research, 1(4). 366–389.
Light, L. R., Xu, M., & Mossop, J. (1987). English proficiency and academic performance of international students. TESOL Quarterly, 21(2). 251–261.
McNamara, T. (2000). Language testing (2nd ed.). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Meetess, S., Iramaneerat, C., & Thongprong, S. (2013). Predicting academic achievement of students in the nursing assistant certificate program, Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University. Siriraj Medical Journal, 6(2), 76-84.
Messick, S. (1996). Validity and washback in language testing. Language Testing, 13, 241-256.
Mihaela, V., & Alina-Oana, B. (2015). (When) Teachers’ pedagogical beliefs are changing? Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences,180, 1001-1006. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.02.191
Ngamsuntikul, R. (2015). A prediction of learning achievement of department of mathematics, Faculty of Science, Srinakharinwirot University students admitted through direct examination. Journal of Research on Science, Technology and Environment for Learning, 6(2), 127-140.
Thomas, M. (2013). Teachers’ beliefs about classroom teaching – teachers’ knowledge and teaching approaches. Procedia- Social and Behavioral Sciences, 89, 31-39. doi:10.1016/ j.sbspro.2013.08.805
Poovudhikul, V. (2013). The effects of the Thai college admissions system on private tutoring expenditure, income and achievement disparities. (Master’s thesis). Stanford University, CA, United States of America. Retrieved from https://economics. stanford.edu/sites/default/files/publications/venussapoovud- hikulhonors_thesis-may2013.pdf
Ritchey, F. (2000). The statistical imagination: Elementary statistics for the social sciences. New York, NY: The McGraw-Hill. Richard, J. C. (2001). Approaches to evaluation: Curriculum development in language teaching. Cambridge, UK:
Cambridge University Press.
Sawyer, R. (2013). Beyond correlations: Usefulness of high school GPA and test scores in making college admissions decisions, Applied Measurement in Education, 26(2), 89-112,DOI: 10.1080/08957347.2013.765433
Sanguanrungsirikul, D. (2011). A prediction of learning achievement of King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi Students Admitted Throught Central University Admission System. KMUTT Research and Development Journal, 34, 431-441.
Spolsky, B. (1985). The limits of authenticity in language testing. Language Testing, 2(1), 31-40.
Van Nelson, C., Nelson, J. S., & Malone, B. G. (2004). Predicting success of international graduate students in an academic university. College and University Journal, 80(1), 19–27.
Weir, C. (1990). Communicative language testing. New York, NY: Prentice Hall.
Woodrow, L. (2006). Academic success of international postgraduate education students and the role of English proficiency. University of Sydney Papers in TESOL, 1, 51–70.
Wittaya-u-dom, W. (2013). A study of the predictive validity of GAT, PAT, O-NET factor scores and GPAX for university admission. OJED, 8(1), 1096-1110.