| Abstract: | The identification and composition of four subtests constituting the major areas of competence of English as a foreign langauge is reported, largely based on a study of the literature. A 160-item, four-choice test was used to obtain a number of reliability and validity indices. It was found that grammar was the most reliable and the most valid component when based on total test scores as the criterion, where-as translation was lowest on these two measures. The opposite trend was observed with Grade Point Average as the criterion, whereas the third criterion, writing ability, was found to correlate highest with listening comprehension, which was also found to contribute to the highest unique nonchance variance of the four components. These findings and their explanation are discussed. |
