Differential Item Functioning of University Entrance Exam: Using Rasch Analysis

The present study aims at investigating the presence of Differential Item Functioning (DIF) in terms of gender in a high stakes language proficiency test, the National University Entrance Exam for Foreign Languages (NUEEFL). The participants (N = 5000) of this study have been selected randomly from a pool of examinees who had taken the NUEEFL as a university entrance requirement for English language studies (English literature, Teaching, and Translation). The results revealed that among 95 items, 40 items exhibit DIF between male and female. Our investigation revealed that the test is not unidimensional and a correct answer requires other knowledge, ability, and skill than the ones that the items aim to measure. It is concluded that the NUEEFL test’s scores are not free of construct-irrelevant variance and the overall fairness of the test is under question. In addition, the current research provides several important implications for test designers, stake-holders, administrators, as well as teachers and students.