Chinese test takers' attitudes towards the Versant English Test: a mixed-methods approach

This study investigated Chinese test takers' attitudes towards the Versant English Test (VET), an automated spoken English test developed by Pearson Knowledge Technologies. Based on previous attitudinal studies, `attitude' in this study was conceptualized as a hypothetical psychological construct which consisted of three components: beliefs, opinions, and emotions. In data collection and analysis, this study adopted the mixed-methods sequential explanatory design. Quantitative data were collected through a questionnaire while qualitative data were collected through follow-up semi-structured interviews and focus-group discussions. The findings of this study indicate that test takers had overall positive attitudes towards the VET, believing that the VET largely reflected their spoken English ability. Test takers' gender and background had no significant relationship with their reported attitude. Despite the satisfactory face validity of the VET, this study also found that test takers still preferred the more traditional speaking tests (e.g., the IELTS-style live interviews) because these tests were believed to be more authentic and tap into a wider range of English speaking competencies. The findings of this study have implications for the VET provider in light of the further improvement and promotion of the test. Meanwhile, the findings are also meaningful to other providers of spoken English tests of a similar nature. © 2014, Fan; licensee Springer.