ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the extent to which a new assessment of young learners' English language ability, the TOEFL Junior Standard test developed by Educational Testing Service (ETS), is capable of reflecting changes in language ability as a function of learning. It demonstrates how validity evidence can be gathered based on nonexperimental repeated measures data to examine the claim that the TOEFL Junior test can be used to monitor young learners' English language proficiency development. The chapter includes an empirical study that employs a longitudinal design to model changes in relation to learning over time. The specific goal of this study was to examine the extent to which a new assessment of young learners' English language ability, the TOEFL Junior Standard test developed by ETS, is capable of reflecting changes in language ability as a function of learning.
