Test Fairness and Validity of the TEPS

Abstract

A great deal of public attention has been given to the Test of English Proficiency, developed by Seoul National University (TEPS), which has been administered as an official test of general English proficiency since January 1999. In order for TEPS to serve as a valid and reliable measurement tool, it is imperative that test developers consider the notion of test fairness including the washback (backwash) effect (or impact: Bachman & Palmer 1996) as one of the most fundamental considerations. Therefore, the present study is intended to validate TEPS, based largely on test-takers' Qualitative and Quantitative feedback on the pilot TEPS and the fIrst administrated TEPS. The findings from the survey and the statistical analyses reveal that TEPS has fulfilled the basic requirement of validity with adequate test fairness by satisfying the high expectation of test-takers and test-users.