ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the authors describe the issues involved in test translation and focus on the statistical, validity, and fairness issues associated with different language versions of educational tests. Their report begins with a discussion of why test translations are important for contemporary educational assessment programs and the degree to which test translations are being used. The authors define the various terms associated with test translation, the different methods used for translating tests, and validity issues associated with interpreting and comparing scores from different language versions of a test. Dorans and Middleton criticized the lack of attention to the fact that cross-lingual assessment involves an inconsistency in measurement conditions across groups of examinees, and like others. The most popular approach is to screen translated items for differential item functioning to justify a set of linking items thought to be equivalent across languages.
