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Language Teaching Research Quarterly

European Journal of Studies in Management and Business

International Journal of Behavior Studies in Organizations

Studies in Educational Management

New Challenges in Accounting and Finance

Language Testing in Focus: An International Journal

Marketing and Branding Research

Individual Differences in Language Education: An International Journal 

Feedback Research in Second Language 

Management Issues in Healthcare System

Language Teacher Education Research

Artificial Intelligence Knowledge Development

<p style="text-align: justify;">The primary objective of Cognitive Diagnostic Assessment (CDA) lies in problem solving processes to systematically categorize test takers in mastery/non-mastery groups. What is of concern is using some attributes in reading comprehension test item options which are suspected to bias, and is simulating unbiased test items in a reversed engineering attempt. To this end, 4200 PhD candidates who sat for the examination were randomly selected. A Q-matrix was constructed, and raw data were fed into the R-studio software. Two groups of female and male differences were considered for the Differential Item Functioning (DIF) detection based on the Deterministic Inputs, Noisy &ldquo;and&rdquo; Gate (DINA) model. Results of the simulation study revealed that in 100 times of item generations, items were non-significant in favor of gender bias. In conclusion, this study was an attempt to determine whether an item identified with DIF is a correct detection or failed to be identified in fine-grained details.</p>

ltf.2024.10.02.pdf

Original Research 

ltf.2024.10.02.xml

Simulation study: Seeking fairness in a high-stakes placement test

<p style="text-align:justify;">Cognitive diagnostic assessment (CDA) is used to study cognitive and educational psychology, and designed to diagnose the underlying abilities of test takers in comprehension language skills such as reading comprehension. Through applying CDA, a test has undergone accurate studies to remove biased test items which yield great impact on individuals, educational systems and societies. In this case, psychometric statistical analyses were applied, Differential Attribute Functioning (DAF)) was also used to detect the probability of the mastery of attributes among test takers, and Differential Item Functioning (DIF) was estimated to show item performance among different candidates in terms of gender, their GPAs in BA, and MA degrees. The randomly selected participants of this study were 7,420 females and males sitting for the nationwide PhD admission test to pursue their education in Applied Linguistics. Moreover, a Q-matrix was developed, data were fed into R studio software, and the Generalized Deterministic Inputs, Noisy “and” Gate (GDINA) model was run. The results of the study flagged large DIF in gender group in 2019; and in gender, BA, and MA groups in 2020. In sum, this study is an attempt to raise the awareness of test developers to shed light on the critical discursive sources of inequity and bias. The implication of this study can provide pedagogically useful diagnostic information for test designers and teachers since a proficiency test needs to be valid, reliable, and fair in the context of high-stakes tests so that it would lead to positive changes.</p>

ltf.2023.08.01.pdf

ltf.2023.08.01  .xml

Cognitive diagnostic assessment of reading comprehension for high-stakes tests: Using GDINA model