Development of a test of spoken Dutch for prospective immigrants

Based on a parliamentary vote with broad support, the Ministry of Justice of the Netherlands in December 2003 commissioned the development of an examination system to test the Dutch oral language skills of foreigners who want to immigrate permanently to the Netherlands for economic or family reasons. This assessment would take place in the country of origin prior to being admitted to the Netherlands. Moreover, the test would also be appropriate for use within the framework of an examination scheme for naturalization within the Netherlands, which would require a higher level of ability than at first entry. The reporting scale for the test would therefore represent reliable measurement at different points on the underlying ability continuum. It was further required by the Ministry of Justice that the reporting scale be related to the scales of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (henceforth: CEF; Council of Europe, 2001). Furthermore, the test of the Dutch language was to be accompanied by a test assessing knowledge of Dutch society, its political structure, its rules and norms, and some historical and geographical facts. This article reports on some aspects of the production and validation of the language test, i.e., the test of spoken Dutch, henceforth referred to as the TGN (the acronym of the Dutch name: Toets Gesproken Nederlands). Both tests were developed by a consortium with main contractor CINOP (NL) and subcontractors Language Testing Services (NL) and Ordinate Corporation (USA)