The ECL Language Examination Centre offers standardized, general-purpose and monolingual
foreign language proficiency exams consisting of four parts: reading comprehension,
listening comprehension, written communication, and oral communication.
The exam was originally offered in a paper-based format. In 2020 the ECL International
Centre developed a computer-based version of its language exam with two modes of delivery:
candidates can take computer-based language exams at designated examination sites
and at home.
In order to find out whether the medium (computer) and the circumstances (proctored
online exam) have any influence on test takers’ performance, a comparability study
was conducted.
German and English language tests measuring three skills (reading comprehension, listening
comprehension and written communication) that had been used previously during live
exams were converted into the online format for candidates who volunteered to take
a mock online exam. The composition of the mock exam participants broadly mapped the
profile of the ECL test population in terms of age, gender, place of residence, foreign
language ability and language level. In the case of the B2 level exams, more than
500 candidates completed both paper-based and online tests in English, with close
to 200 candidates also completing both tests in German.The statistical analyses of
the previous live exam results and those of the online mock exam were compared. In
order to test the null hypothesis that there was no significance difference between
the performances of candidates taking the test in the two modes of delivery, the Independent
Samples T Test was applied. The results of the comparative analyses are presented.
