This study analyzed the patterns of relative clauses (RCs) used on the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT), a standardized test for college admissions in Korea. The researchers investigated the Noun Phrase Accessibility Hierarchy and the impact of the antecedent’s animacy on RCs. Also, it was explored how NPs in the subject position of object RCs affected language processing, specifically, the condition where relativizers were omitted and the reasons for producing passive subject RCs. Data were collected from the CSAT and mock tests from 2019 to 2023. The analysis of 622 RCs yielded the following results: First, the frequency of RCs appeared in the following order: subject RCs, object RCs, then OBL. Second, the object RCs showed a preference for inanimate antecedents whereas the subject RCs used did not show a preference for animate antecedents. Third, NPs in the subject position with sentences containing object RCs predominantly took the form of pronouns, with common nouns used less frequently.

This study investigated the feasibility of adopting an automatic scoring system (ASS) in a domestic English-speaking education context. Scope, test items, assessment criteria, scoring methods, and reporting strategies of six overseas English-speaking tests utilizing ASSs were examined. Moreover, a comparative analysis was conducted to identify disparities between ASS-based and non-ASS-based speaking tests. Findings were: 1) some ASS-based tests utilized ASS technology throughout the assessment, while others adopted a hybrid scoring system involving human raters; 2) compared to non-ASS-based tests, ASS-based tests used more test items targeting low-level skills such as sound and forms but fewer test items targeting conversation and discourse level skills; 3) pronunciation, fluency, and vocabulary were widely employed as evaluation criteria with sparse use of organization, content, and task completion in most ASS-based tests; 4) differences were minimal in assessment criteria application and score calculation between ASS-based and non-ASS-based tests; and 5) some ASS-based tests provided criteria-specific results and feedback with total scores and proficiency levels.

The College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) has focused on relative ranks among students since it started from 1993. In December 2014 The Ministry of Education (MOE) announced that it would adopt an absolute grading system (AGS) for English scores in the CSAT, starting from November 2017, and discard the relative grading. The MOE hoped that the AGS of CSAT English would eventually serve to normalize English education by having teachers place more emphasis on improving students’ communication skills rather than on solving CSAT questions. This paper describes the rationale behind the implementation of AGS for CSAT English by the MOE and how the criteria and grades of AGS have been developed and set. Then current problems arising from the AGS for CSAT English are discussed by touching on its theoretical, practical and political issues based on relevant literatures, public hearings and news media reports, and informal interviews with contemporary teachers of English.

In Korea, the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) was introduced in 1993 as the official national college entrance examination. Over the 22 years since its inception, the CSAT has gone through numerous changes in its policies regarding the test structure, test administration, test writers, item bank, item difficulty, test materials, score reporting, and the use of test scores. The present study reviewed these policies and policy changes regarding the CSAT, with a focus on the English section ofthe test. The study found that while some of the policies were laudable for beneficial effects on students and the society, some other policies had detrimental effects on the quality of the test and for stakeholders including students, teachers, and parents. More active involvement of testing professionals is suggested for the improvement of policymaking processes and the policies themselves.

The research on washback of a test has little been carried out in Korea while it has been flourishing in language testing researchers overseas. This paper investigates whether the advent of NEAT has affected the perception of test takers and the teaching/learning practices in English classrooms of Korea. In addition, we also want to investigate the relationship between variables such as perception of test users, teaching/learning practices, and test scores. We carried out a survey with 601 students who were seated at NEAT administered in April 2013 as well as 3,267 third-year high school students who had no experience on NEAT. The analyses revealed some evidence to support that NEAT has an effect on the perception of the participants. However, the analyses also revealed that NEAT was not effective to appeal for a change in teaching and learning practices in English classrooms in Korea.

The purpose of this study was to investigate inter- and intra- rater reliability in an interview and a computerized oral test. It was also examined whether rater characteristics influenced on their reliability and biases, and finally the scores of both tests were compared with those of the Versant test using an automated computer rating system. For the study, the data from 21 Korean university students and 18 Korean or native speakers of English raters with various characteristics were collected. Some of the main findings from the study were as follows. First, rater severity was significantly different in each test, but each rater consistently graded on both tests suggesting lower inter-rater reliability and higher intra-rater reliability. Secondly, rater severity was impacted by the rater characteristics such as mother tongue, gender, age, and major. Lastly, there existed a positive correlation among the scores of the three tests, indicating that the scores of human beings and computers are strongly related.

This study aims to compare the English vocabulary used in Korean high school English textbooks with the one in the College Scholastic Ability Tests (afterwards CSAT) administered in the years of 2009-2013 by using a concordance program, NLPTools, and to make a list of vocabulary used only in CSAT. The findings are as follows: First, when compared with Coxhead's (2000) Academic Word List, the 'Basic Words List' shows a conformity rate of 98.78%. Second, in terms of TTR (Type Token Ratio), there is no noticeable difference among the English textbooks. Third, in the respect of TTR, CSATs show higher figures, which means that CSATs' vocabulary is more difficult than that in the English textbooks and that for CSATs, annually each test has shown a gradual increase in the number of valid types. (This shows that more valid types to be learned are needed for the preparation of CSAT. Also the degree of difficulty in CSAT is getting higher.) Lastly, the higher level of the 208 words which occur only in CSATs illustrates that the gap between the vocabulary level of textbooks and that of CSAT needs to be reduced for normalization of public education.

According to Shohamy (2007), the tests of certain languages deliver messages and ideologies about the prestige, priorities and hierarchies of the languages, leading to policies of suppression of diversity. The test-driven language policies also lead to a narrow view of language as standardized and homogenous. The purpose of this paper is to contextualize English language tests in relation to language policy tools in Korea. The discussion of inappropriately used test-driven policies was supported by several test development cases in Korea, which appeared in newspaper articles, testing companies’ newsletters, or government documents. Different English language tests intended as language policy tools were categorized into three major situations: government-led, school-contextualized, and industry-based. It was argued that the English test-driven policy movement must have influenced teaching, learning, and the curriculum, to the extent that policy-making and testing essentially became synonymous.

The purpose of this study is to present underlying principles and criteria for designing and developing National English Ability Test (NEAT). To this end, this study presents 5 principles (i.e., Connection, Authenticity, Interactiveness, IBT Compatibility, Washback Effectiveness) which play guiding and controlling roles in developing and selecting item types appropriate for the listening and the reading test of NEAT derived from test usefulness (Bachman & Palmer, 1996). Also, it proposes 4 criteria (i.e., Complementarity, Integration, Pivotality, and Hierarchicality) which function levering roles in designing and developing the two tests of NEAT on the basis of the empirical data of the item analyses of Foreign (English) domain of College Scholastic Ability Tests (2005~2010 school year). Finally, it discusses some implications and applications of the principles and the criteria to a theoretical blueprint for establishing an item developing system and a test implementation system, setting up the criteria of validating item types, designing a modular type of test specifications, and specifying a complementary type of test specifications for the two ability-level listening and reading tests (the 2nd and the 3rd rank) of NEAT.

It recently became evident that the EFL needs of secondary school students could not be met by the then-current complement of teachers. This led to an increase in the number of Conversational English Instructors in the public school system. This growing demand for EFL instructors in our nation‟s public schools requires an obligation to examine the selection criteria and process for incoming EFL instructors. Based on our analysis of a nationwide survey of EFL Instructors, we recommend reforms to the selection process system. A total of 199 EFL instructors in secondary schools including those in Seoul, metropolitan cities, medium-sized cities, and small communities participated in the main survey. The survey considered the entire EFL Instructor selection process including the 1st step of applicant specifications, the 2nd step of teaching-learning performance test and interview test. Our analysis suggests that the selection criteria should include the applicant‟s proficiency test score in spoken and written English, and the teaching-learning performance should be emphasized in a greater extent. This research suggests that the way of testing the applicants‟ teachinglearning performance in the 2nd step selection process should be changed into a more authentic microteaching situation, and that regional needs vary and must be considered in the selection process.

This study investigates secondary school English teachers’ perceptions and psychological burdens involved in the implementation of the speaking and writing tests of the National English Ability Test, which is being developed by the Korean Ministry of Education, Science and Technology. The study surveyed 138 secondary school English teachers in Seoul. Although more than half of the teachers were aware of the new test, 18% of the surveyed teachers were not aware of the fact that speaking and writing skills would be assessed in the new test. Also, 22.7% of the teachers were opposed to the productive skills test. More than half (56.2%) of the teachers felt some psychological burdens toward the inclusion of the speaking/writing tests. Although the teachers admitted that serving as raters for the new test would help improve their teaching, the majority of them were reluctant to participate in the actual rating process. The teachers felt that the difficulty of subjective rating and the lack of time for the speaking and writing tests were serious problems in implementing the new test. The teachers were sensitive toward the students’ test anxiety. They also indicated that they feel a strong psychological burden when making judgments on the students' performances. Implications and suggestions are made based on the findings.

This paper explores whether the English reading texts of College Scholastic Ability Tests are factually accurate. The tests which were administered over the fifteen-year period since 1996 are investigated with regard to whether the infonnation in the texts which deal with historical events or figures and real life situations is factually accurate. The results show that there are 12 test items which are not factually accurate. Some of the items which use the original texts intact or have a minor modification to them contain information which is not true when their original texts are cross checked with various sources of materials. Others have inaccurate information resulted from the revisions of the original texts such as modifying them in order to lower the difficulty of the items. In conclusion, it is suggested that every effort should be made to confirm whether the information in the reading texts is factually accurate or to sustain the information as it is as much as possible if it is accurate.

This study explores solutions for the problems of the current secondary English teacher selection test in Korea. The study was performed in the form of survey including a total of 557 participants, among whom were professors teaching at the departments of English education, students majoring English education, English teachers who had taken the selection test, test-takers of the test, and public officials in charge of English education in the offices of education. The questionnaire consisted of 29 questions which were designed to elicit the participants' perception or belief about the test itself, the relationships between the test and the curricula of the department, the test-making process, and the first stage of the selectional process. Analyzing the results of the survey, the present study proposes possible solutions for the problems regarding the question types of the test, the proportions of each field of the major, the curricula of the department of English in the college of education, and the test-developing and grading process.