The Semiotics of Test Design: Conceptual Framework on Optimal Item Features in Educational Assessment Across Cultural Groups, Countries, and Languages

This paper offers a conceptual framework on test design from the perspective of social semiotics. Items are defined as arrangements features intended to represent information, convey meaning, and capture information examinees’ knowledge or skills given content. The typology semiotic resources used create items discusses item representational complexity—the multiple ways in which an related each other—and alignment—the extent examinees share cultural experience encoded by items. Since ability make sense is shaped level familiarity with conventions underlying represented, unnecessary complexity limited alignment may increase extraneous cognitive load adversely impact performance certain populations. Semiotic allows specification optimal pools be creating intent minimize maximize for maximum number individuals diverse populations examinees. These need specific content assessed, characteristics examinees, languages involved, etc., determined based produced cross-cultural frequency analyses, interviews, focus groups, expert panels.