An Investigation into the Validity of the Iranian Ph.D. Admission English Proficiency Test: An Assessment Use Argument Approach

Assessment of the English proficiency of applicants of entry into postgraduate studies, undeniably, is of utmost importance. Nationally speaking, the current status of the English test administered by the National Organization of Educational Testing (NOET) in Iran has been a topic of heated contention in recent years. This study purports to investigate the validity of the Iranian English proficiency test for Ph.D. admission purposes adopting the assessment use argument as the main framework for its validation research. To this end, the required data were collected from the relevant stakeholders of the test, namely applicants of the test, experts in educational assessment and language testing, and test readiness instructors. Structured interviews and focus groups were conducted and the acquired data were analyzed using the qualitative content analysis approach. Most prominent themes that emerged from the data in addition to a number of relevant representative quotes constituted the major findings of this study. The results revealed that the test is in need of major revisions in some parts, and further modifications are deemed as necessary. In the final section, summary of the results along with suggestions for optimization of the test are put forth.