1 Prolegomena 1
Read this carefully before starting the test 1
Answer in 500 words:What is a test? 4
Technology and its uses or misuses 6
Pedagogical testing 7
Qualifying tests 8
Wider uses and stronger 8
A short history 9
PART ONE The history of the objective language test 15
2 The encroaching power of examinations 15
Shibboleths and other punishments 15
The Chinese principle 16
Liberty,equality,and examinations 17
The triumph of the competitive examination 19
The unavoidable uncertainty of the traditional examination 22
For the Numbers came 25
The measurement of intelligence 27
3 The new-type language test:1913-1935 33
Beginnings of language tests 33
The 1913 committee 35
The Army Alpha tests 36
Objective testing captures American education 37
The growth of new-type testing 40
The Modern Language Study and the American Council Alpha tests 41
Other standardized tests 46
4 Spreading the psychometric hegemony 53
Objectivity or control? 53
The College Board examination to test competence in the English language 55
Essay grading 59
The Cambridge examinations in English for foreigners 63
Repatriating reliability 66
Testing of aural comprehension 77
5 New technologies and consumer protection 77
Progress in language testing in the 1930s 80
New foreign language tests in Britain 84
Non-pedagogical uses of language tests 85
Technological advances in language testing in the 1930s 87
Consumer protection and the Buros reviews 90
6 Language testing goes to war:1940-1945 99
Oral language proficiency 99
US language testing goes to war:1943-1945 100
A wartime proposal 103
Post-war impact of the Army Specialized Training Program 106
Cambridge examinations in wartime 107
7 Prognostication and aptitude:1925-1960 117
Some early tests of prognosis 117
The Symonds'tests of prognosis 121
Kaulfers on prognosis 123
Other studies of prognosis 124
The Army UCLA aptitude study 126
The prediction of success in intensive foreign language training 128
The Modern Language Aptitude Test 130
The state of prophecy 133
8 Language testing in the national interest 139
Intensity and the Cold War 139
Modern language testing at the end of the 1940s 141
The 1947 English Examination for Foreign Students 144
Professionalization 147
9 Testing goes professional 155
The incorporation of language testing 155
Meeting at meetings 158
The state of the art in 1954 164
Speaking functionally at Foggy Bottom 174
10 Language testing triumphant:1954-1965 174
Maturity 174
The College Board tests in 1 954:objectivity triumphant 179
The Northeast conference:aural and oral testing 181
The Modern Language Association Foreign Language Proficiency Tests 186
Objectivity challenged 193
PART TWO TOEFL and the rise of the transatlantic English testing industry 197
11 English tests for foreigners:1945-1960 197
English language testing at Michigan 197
The American University Language Center tests 199
Lackland Air Force Base 201
British testing in the post-war period 203
The Cambridge examinations in English after 1945 205
12 The idea of TOEFL 217
Plans and participants 217
Discussions and decisions 225
13 TOEFL:gestation 237
The Educational Testing Service interest and the end of the English Examination for Foreign Students 237
Implementing the plan 240
14 The birth of TOEFL 251
The National Council starts work 251
Affiliations and plans 253
The second council meeting,May 1962 257
Negotiating 259
Tally-ho 261
15 Action in the boardrooms 269
The College Board defends its turf 269
Ford decides 274
The council acts,May 1963 277
16 TOEFL in action 281
The TOEFL programme starts work 281
The final form of the first test 283
The programme in operation in 1964 287
A bid for freedom 290
17 Dividing up the pot 299
The second and last year 299
Salvage operations 301
The National Council concedes 305
TOEFL at Princeton 307
18 The English testing industry 313
Growth of the TOEFL industry in Princeton 313
Research and development at TOEFL 317
The Test of Spoken English(TSE) 318
Reliability of essays 322
The Test of Written English(TWE) 327
Other TOEFL initiatives 331
TOEFL 2000 333
19 The Cambridge-Princeton test race 337
The Cambridge examinations examined 337
The other British tradition 341
Improving and internationalizing ELTS 343
The flourishing English testing industry 346
20 Jubilee:an envoi 349
Objectivity dominant 349
The scarch for the holy scale 349
How much does it hurt? 350
Re-embodying language proficiency 351
Oedipal?But what if I don't like my mother either? 352
Check your answers before you hand in the paper 353
Bibliography 361
Index of personal names 385
Subject Index 392