{"id":{"repo_id":"uiuc","oai_identifier":"oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/125912"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/uiuc/oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/125912","repository":{"repo_id":"uiuc","name":"University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign","base_url":"https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh"},"display":{"title":"Constructvalidationof the united nations associationtest of English (unate) level a test and its implicationsfor further developmentof the test","abstract":"The United Nations Association Test of English (UNATE) Level A test is an English proficiency test administered in Japan twice a year. UNATE is used not only as a proficiency test for learners of English in Japan in general but also as a selection test for screening Japanese trainees to the United Nations on the Associate Expert Program organized by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Accordingly, the test partly includes items designed to assess test taker's performance in the UN context. The influence of the UNATE on EFL in Japan is becoming greater year by year, and the decisions made based on the results of the test is of paramount importance. However, virtually no construct validation of the test has been conducted to date. In this study the nature of the reading comprehension items on the UNATE Level A Day One written test and the effect of background knowledge on UN issues on these items were investigated, utilizing expert content analysis and experimental procedure. The results of the content analysis showed that the items tended to focus on measuring the test taker's knowledge on syntax and lexis on specific topics. Moreover, the experimental study indicated that the test taker's background knowledge on a particular UN related topic as defined in this study did not significantly affect his/her performance on these items. The results of the present study suggest that investigation of inter-passage consistency, clarification of the skills being tested on the items and a priori investigation of the 'quality' of the items are critical components of the UNATE test development process.","abstract_html":"The United Nations Association Test of English (UNATE) Level A test is an English proficiency test administered in Japan twice a year. UNATE is used not only as a proficiency test for learners of English in Japan in general but also as a selection test for screening Japanese trainees to the United Nations on the Associate Expert Program organized by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Accordingly, the test partly includes items designed to assess test taker's performance in the UN context. The influence of the UNATE on EFL in Japan is becoming greater year by year, and the decisions made based on the results of the test is of paramount importance. However, virtually no construct validation of the test has been conducted to date. In this study the nature of the reading comprehension items on the UNATE Level A Day One written test and the effect of background knowledge on UN issues on these items were investigated, utilizing expert content analysis and experimental procedure. The results of the content analysis showed that the items tended to focus on measuring the test taker's knowledge on syntax and lexis on specific topics. Moreover, the experimental study indicated that the test taker's background knowledge on a particular UN related topic as defined in this study did not significantly affect his/her performance on these items. The results of the present study suggest that investigation of inter-passage consistency, clarification of the skills being tested on the items and a priori investigation of the 'quality' of the items are critical components of the UNATE test development process.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Moriyama, Yasuyo"],"institution":"University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign","degree_name":"M.A.","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"English as an International Language","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Davidson, Fred"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":1995,"date_issued":"1995","date_published":"1995","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:25:02Z","subjects":["Teaching English as Second Language","English Proficiency Test","Reading Comprehension","Test Development"],"languages":["eng"],"rights":["Copyright by Yasuyo Moriyama, 1995"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://hdl.handle.net/2142/125912","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Davidson, Fred"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Moriyama, Yasuyo"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["1995"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Dissertation/Thesis","text"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["English as an International Language"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["M.A."]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Teaching English as Second Language","English Proficiency Test","Reading Comprehension","Test Development"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["eng"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright by Yasuyo Moriyama, 1995"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://hdl.handle.net/2142/125912"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["The United Nations Association Test of English (UNATE) Level A test is an English proficiency test administered in Japan twice a year. UNATE is used not only as a proficiency test for learners of English in Japan in general but also as a selection test for screening Japanese trainees to the United Nations on the Associate Expert Program organized by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Accordingly, the test partly includes items designed to assess test taker's performance in the UN context. The influence of the UNATE on EFL in Japan is becoming greater year by year, and the decisions made based on the results of the test is of paramount importance. However, virtually no construct validation of the test has been conducted to date. In this study the nature of the reading comprehension items on the UNATE Level A Day One written test and the effect of background knowledge on UN issues on these items were investigated, utilizing expert content analysis and experimental procedure. The results of the content analysis showed that the items tended to focus on measuring the test taker's knowledge on syntax and lexis on specific topics. Moreover, the experimental study indicated that the test taker's background knowledge on a particular UN related topic as defined in this study did not significantly affect his/her performance on these items. The results of the present study suggest that investigation of inter-passage consistency, clarification of the skills being tested on the items and a priori investigation of the 'quality' of the items are critical components of the UNATE test development process."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Constructvalidationof the united nations associationtest of English (unate) level a test and its implicationsfor further developmentof the test"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Davidson, Fred"],"dc:creator":["Moriyama, Yasuyo"],"dc:date":["1995"],"dc:description":["The United Nations Association Test of English (UNATE) Level A test is an English proficiency test administered in Japan twice a year. UNATE is used not only as a proficiency test for learners of English in Japan in general but also as a selection test for screening Japanese trainees to the United Nations on the Associate Expert Program organized by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Accordingly, the test partly includes items designed to assess test taker's performance in the UN context. The influence of the UNATE on EFL in Japan is becoming greater year by year, and the decisions made based on the results of the test is of paramount importance. However, virtually no construct validation of the test has been conducted to date. In this study the nature of the reading comprehension items on the UNATE Level A Day One written test and the effect of background knowledge on UN issues on these items were investigated, utilizing expert content analysis and experimental procedure. The results of the content analysis showed that the items tended to focus on measuring the test taker's knowledge on syntax and lexis on specific topics. Moreover, the experimental study indicated that the test taker's background knowledge on a particular UN related topic as defined in this study did not significantly affect his/her performance on these items. The results of the present study suggest that investigation of inter-passage consistency, clarification of the skills being tested on the items and a priori investigation of the 'quality' of the items are critical components of the UNATE test development process."],"dc:identifier":["https://hdl.handle.net/2142/125912"],"dc:language":["eng"],"dc:rights":["Copyright by Yasuyo Moriyama, 1995"],"dc:subject":["Teaching English as Second Language","English Proficiency Test","Reading Comprehension","Test Development"],"dc:title":["Constructvalidationof the united nations associationtest of English (unate) level a test and its implicationsfor further developmentof the test"],"dc:type":["Dissertation/Thesis","text"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["English as an International Language"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["M.A."],"thesis:institution_name":["University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:25:02Z"}