DLPT5 Full Range Test Item Development

The Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center (DLIFLC) has a need for the creation of test items. DLIFLC has developed a reading and listening test, the Defense Language Proficiency Test (DLPT5), to assess the foreign language proficiency of military and Government linguists. DoD's strategic readiness depends on the results of these tests which would determine linguists’ capability. Therefore, continuous development and maintenance of DLPT5 test content is mission critical.

A Test Item is the task for which an examinee provides a response, and the means for evaluating the response. Test Items are comprised of either Reading or Listening passages in a specific foreign language, each assigned an Interagency Language Roundtable (ILR) proficiency rating. For a Multiple-Choice test, the Test Item includes one stem question and four response choices, one of which is the most correct.

For a Constructed Response Test, the Test Item includes one stem, a list of potential ideas for scoring, and a Credit Scheme for scoring the examinee’s response. In all cases, English renderings accompany each Test Item delivered. Currently, there are approximately 450 languages and dialects for which DLIFLC may have a demand for Test Items. ILR ratings range from 0 (No proficiency) to 5 (Native proficiency).

A designation of 0+, 1+, 2+, 3+, or 4+ is assigned when proficiency substantially exceeds one skill level but does not fully meet the criteria for the next level. Thus, the scale totals 11 possible grades. DLIFLC anticipates annual demand for 5000 to 7500 DLPT5 test items that conform to DLPT item development specifications and cover multiple Interagency Language Roundtable language proficiency (ILR) levels from amongst approximately 350 foreign languages and dialects.