Comparing scores from tests administered in different languages

Linking and Comparability Issues in Test Translation and Cross-Lingual Assessment The world is rapidly becoming smaller, yet language still separates people more than any physical divide. For the measurement community, bridging the language divide is often attempted by translating, or more accurately adapting, assessments across languages. In fact, assessing individuals who communicate in different languages through the use of test translation appears to be one of the distinguishing features of assessment in the 21st century. Fifty years ago, translations of educational and psychological assessments were limited to a few cross-cultural researchers interested in studying the universality of psychological constructs. Today, international corporations assess the attitudes and skills of their global workforce using instruments translated into dozens of languages (Sireci, Yang, Harter, & Ehrlic, 2006), international comparisons of educational achievement are an annual occurrence, and licensure and certification practices often involve translating tests into several languages (Robin, Sireci, & Hambleton, 2003). Clearly, large-scale assessment activities have gone global, and test translation has made these activities possible.