Challenges and issues in developing an EAP video listening placement assessment: a view from one program

Investigations of english for academic purposes (EAP) testing and assessment, have, not surprisingly, tended to be dominated by large-scale examinations such as the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) and TOEFL, mainly due to the amount of resources and technical expertise available to these enterprises. In-house EAP placement examinations, however, at least in recent years, have received little attention in the literature, despite the fact that these instruments are widely used in most colleges and universities in the USA and elsewhere to assess the English skills of their entering non-native speaking (NNS) students. The flourishing, complex of activity surrounding the development and administration of these assessments is perhaps something of a cottage industry and thus there is a case for sharing experiences in test development at a single institution, particularly given the constraints of limited expertise, time, and other resources. In this paper we depart from the typical assessment paper with its emphasis on data analysis and narrowly focus on the process of developing an academic listening placement assessment on video for non-native speaking graduate and undergraduate students. We discuss the advantages of using video over audio, linking assessment and course content, considerations in development, the need for adequate trialing, student and instructor response, as well as development issues relevant to the use of video. (C) 2001 The American University. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.