LET’S NOT IGNORE C-TEST AS A VALID AND RELIABLE PROFICIENCY TEST

Somaiyeh Shahri
Mrs., Adib Mazandaran Institute of Higher Education, Iran, somaiyeh_shahri1980@yahoo.com
   
Abstract

Integrative tests, due to some reasonable demerits of discrete-point tests, have drawn the attention of language testers to examine language as a whole and holistic phenomenon. Cloze test and C-test as the representatives of integrative tests are two appropriate and efficient tools for measuring language proficiency. However, C-test has been ignored in several cases in the process of developing language proficiency tests. The present study attempts to investigate the probable difference between C-test and cloze test in terms of their prediction of language learners’ proficiency as measured by other standardized tests like the TOEFL. To this end, three tests (TOEFL, Cloze test, and C-test) were presented to 50 junior EFL learners. To investigate the probable difference between C-test and cloze test in terms of their prediction of language learners’ proficiency, a regression analysis through the stepwise method was run. The C-test was entered as the first and most powerful predictor of the TOEFL. Thus, in this research, the C-test predicts the TOEFL much more accurately than cloze test.

Keywords: Integrative test, Cloze test, C-test, holistic approach, language proficiency test.