Abstract English writing is a key competence for higher education success. However, research on the assessment of writing skills in English as a foreign language in European upper secondary education (i.e. beyond year 9) remains scarce. The Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) describes language proficiency on a scale of six ascending levels (A1-C2). For writing skills at the end of secondary education in Europe, the common standard is vantage level B2. In this study, experts from Germany and Switzerland linked upper secondary students’ writing profiles elicited in a constructed response test (integrated and independent essays from the TOEFL iBT®) to CEFR levels. Standard setting methodology (a modified examinee paper selection/performance profile approach) was used to establish the linkages. The study reports the methodology and procedure of the standard setting process and discusses the procedural and internal validity of resulting cut scores. It also applies the cut scores to a large sample of upper secondary students in Germany and Switzerland to gain evidence for external and consequential validity.

中文翻译：

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将 TOEFL iBT® 写作量规与 CEFR 水平联系起来：标准设置研究中的分数和有效性证据

摘要 英语写作是高等教育成功的关键能力。然而，关于在欧洲高中教育（即 9 年级以后）中作为外语的英语写作技能评估的研究仍然很少。欧洲共同参考框架 (CEFR) 以六个升序级别 (A1-C2) 来描述语言能力。对于欧洲中等教育结束时的写作能力，通用标准是有利水平 B2。在这项研究中，来自德国和瑞士的专家将在构建响应测试（TOEFL iBT® 的综合和独立论文）中引出的高中学生的写作档案与 CEFR 水平联系起来。使用标准设置方法（修改后的考生论文选择/表现概况方法）来建立联系。该研究报告了标准制定过程的方法和程序，并讨论了所得分数的程序和内部有效性。它还将削减分数应用于德国和瑞士的大量高中生样本，以获得外部和结果有效性的证据。