Download or read book Reconsidering Context in Language Assessment written by Janna Fox and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2022-04-06 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume reconsiders the problem of context in language testing and other modes of assessment from the perspective of transdisciplinarity. Transdisciplinary assessment research brings together collaborators who draw on the strengths of their differing backgrounds and expertise in order to address high-stakes complex socially-relevant problems. Traditional treatments of context in language assessment research have generally been informed by individualist cognitive theories within measurement and psychometrics. The additive potential of alternative social theories, including theories of genre, situated learning, distributed cognition, and intercultural communication, has largely been overlooked. In this book, the benefits of socio-theoretical reconsiderations of context are discussed and further exemplified in transdisciplinary research studies that investigate the use of assessment in classroom and workplace settings. The book offers a renewed view of context in arguments for the validity of assessment practices, and will be of interest to assessment researchers, practitioners, and students in applied linguistics, education, educational psychology, language testing, and other related disciplines and fields.

Download or read book Language Testing Reconsidered written by Janna D. Fox and published by University of Ottawa Press. This book was released on 2007-06-01 with total page 191 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Language Testing Reconsidered provides a critical update on major issues that have engaged the field of language testing since its inception. Anyone who is working in, studying or teaching language testing should have a copy of this book. The information, discussions, and reflections offered within the volume address major developments within the field over the past decades, enlivened by current "takes" on these issues. The real value of this collection, however, lies in its consideration of the past as a means of defining the future agenda of language testing.

Download or read book Ethics and Context in Second Language Testing written by M. Rafael Salaberry and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2023-11-24 with total page 233 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This innovative, timely text introduces the theory and research of critical approaches to language assessment, foregrounding ethical and socially contextualized concerns in language testing and language test validation in today’s globalized world. The editors bring together diverse perspectives, qualitative and quantitative methodologies, and empirical work on this subject that speak to concerns about social justice and equity in language education, from languages and contexts around the world – offering an overview of key concepts and theoretical issues and field-advancing suggestions for research projects. This book offers a fresh perspective on language testing that will be an invaluable resource for advanced students and researchers of applied linguistics, sociolinguistics, language policy, education, and related fields – as well as language program administrators.

Download or read book Another Generation of Fundamental Considerations in Language Assessment written by Gary J. Ockey and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2020-11-23 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This edited book is a collection of papers, written by language assessment professionals to reflect the guidance of Professor Lyle F. Bachman, one of the leading second language assessment experts in the field for decades. It has three sub-themes: assessment of evolving language ability constructs, validity and validation of language assessments, and understanding internal structures of language assessments. It provides theoretical guidelines for practical language assessment challenges. Chapters are written by language assessment researchers who graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles, where Professor Bachman trained them including the book editors.

Download or read book The Routledge Handbook of Language Testing written by Glenn Fulcher and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2021-12-15 with total page 675 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This second edition of The Routledge Handbook of Language Testing provides an updated and comprehensive account of the area of language testing and assessment. The volume brings together 35 authoritative articles, divided into ten sections, written by 51 leading specialists from around the world. There are five entirely new chapters covering the four skills: reading, writing, listening, and speaking, as well as a new entry on corpus linguistics and language testing. The remaining 30 chapters have been revised, often extensively, or entirely rewritten with new authorship teams at the helm, reflecting new generations of expertise in the field. With a dedicated section on technology in language testing, reflecting current trends in the field, the Handbook also includes an extended epilogue written by Harding and Fulcher, contemplating what has changed between the first and second editions and charting a trajectory for the field of language testing and assessment. Providing a basis for discussion, project work, and the design of both language tests themselves and related validation research, this Handbook represents an invaluable resource for students, researchers, and practitioners working in language testing and assessment and the wider field of language education.

Download or read book Revisiting the Assessment of Second Language Abilities From Theory to Practice written by Sahbi Hidri and published by Springer. This book was released on 2018-01-12 with total page 503 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book presents an overview of revisiting the assessment of language abilities. It also showcases how the measurement of such constructs can result in negative or positive washback and how outcomes might be conducive to repercussions that decide on the future of many stakeholders. The 23 chapters were selected among tens of chapters received from different contexts that addressed the issue of revisiting the assessment of language abilities, such as Tunisia, Ukraine, Algeria, Russia, KSA, Sudan, Egypt, Canada, Kurdistan, UK, USA, Iran, Turkey, etc. These contexts have highlighted the necessity to revisit the different constructs which should be assessed with a clear and straightforward foundation on students’ learning objectives and their actual language ability. To do so, most of the chapters present hands-on use of relevant statistical tests that might serve in revisiting the construct definition both theoretically and operationally. Perhaps the sole and intricate question that the authors of these contributions ask is what it means to revisit the assessment of the construct of individualized language ability and how. In addition, the book accentuates the momentousness and significance of reflecting on test fairness and validation as the mainspring and backbone for democratization of assessment. This book appeals to a broad readership, such as English Language Teaching (ELT) practitioners, language teachers, students, testing organizations, policy-makers, test designers, writers of test specifications, testing experts, researchers, program evaluators, especially in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) as well as other international contexts.

Download or read book Aviation English A global perspective written by Patricia Tosqui-Lucks and published by Bookerfield Editora. This book was released on 2022-10-21 with total page 281 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This e-book brings together 13 chapters written by aviation English researchers and practitioners settled in six different countries, representinginstitutions and universities from around the globe. This e-book is an offshoot of the 8th GEIA Seminar, that counts on the collaboration of GEIA and ICAEA researchers, as well as guest speakers. It brings together thirteen chapters focused on aviation language description, teaching, and assessment, written by practitioners from several institutions around the globe. One of our guests and a keynote speaker, Prof. Eric Friginal, added the excellent contribution of his graduate students from Georgia State University, in the USA, and kindly wrote the Preface. Regarding its content, this e-book has been divided into three parts, according to GEIA’s areas of research: language description and analysis; aeornautical English teaching; and assessment practices.The studies collected in this e-book offer us enriching and enlightening discussions that support and promote a better understanding of some key features underlying aviation English language, teaching and assessment practices. We are very pleased to make part of this work. It goes without saying the importance of this e-book for the aviation English field and community. This international publication, besides collecting the studies and work experiences of renowned researches, has also contributed to strengthen the enriching partnership between GEIA members and other researchers. The fact of having been published as an e-book will certainly benefit its circulation and the spreading awareness of aviation English challenges, updates and findings. One of our goals is to spread the news, by making this ESP e-book free for download by as many people and institutions as possible worldwide. Those who place great weight on aeronautical English teaching and assessment practices are aware of the interwoven relation among operational issues, communication and safety. That’s why we believe the discussions and analysis carried out throughout this book are so relevant and should reach international communities and organizations in all parts of the globe. Enjoy your reading! Patrícia Tosqui-Lucks Juliana de Castro Santana

Download or read book Evaluation Across Newspaper Genres written by Jonathan Ngai and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2022-05-08 with total page 295 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Evaluation Across Newspaper Genres: Hard News Stories, Editorials and Feature Articles is the first book-length study of evaluation or stance in three major newspaper genres: hard news stories, editorials and feature articles, the last of which is a Cinderella genre in linguistic studies. It offers a fresh approach to exploring the ways in which evaluation or stance contributes to the construction of the three newspaper genres, each with a distinct communicative purpose. Key features include using a 900,000-word comparable corpus of newspaper texts arranged by genre and topic domain, drawing on a specially developed framework of analysis with a strong orientation to news values, carrying out structural analysis by creating sub-corpora of different parts of newspaper texts and adopting a functional approach to evaluation in newspaper discourse. Evaluation Across Newspaper Genres amply demonstrates that evaluation plays a vital and yet dynamic role in the construction of hard news stories, editorials and feature articles by performing a great variety of discourse functions. In doing so, the book also illuminates such important linguistic concepts as specificity/variation and textual colligation. Providing a new and unifying perspective on evaluation as a prime driver of text construction, it will be of interest and use to researchers, teachers and students of English language, applied linguistics and journalism.

Download or read book Understanding Variability in Second Language Acquisition Bilingualism and Cognition written by Kristin Kersten and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2022-07-29 with total page 375 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This collection brings together linguistic, psychological, and sociological perspectives reflecting on the relationships and interactions of the multilayered factors impacting second language development and cognitive competence. The book advocates a system approach as a counterpoint to existing scholarship, which has tended to focus on a small set of variables. The 13 chapters demonstrate the ways in which cognitive and linguistic development are intrinsically linked, occurring within a nested structure of multiple levels: individual neuro-cognitive systems and processes, individual engagement with the social world, and the wider social and institutional environments and cultural contexts affecting the belief systems and linguistic conventions of social groups. The volume begins by outlining the theoretical and methodological foundations before moving into a more focused look at the interplay of these different variables at the macro, meso, and micro levels. A final section features two commentary chapters from linguistics and psychology, respectively, synthesizing insights from earlier chapters and situating the collection within broader scholarship on linguistic and cognitive development, theoretical and methodological implications, and discussions of avenues for future empirical research. This book will be of particular interest to scholars in second language acquisition, psycholinguistics, cognition, psychology, and sociology.

Download or read book Multimodality Studies in International Contexts written by Liliana Vásquez Rocca and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2023-12-28 with total page 285 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This collection responds to the need for theoretically informed and methodologically grounded empirical research on the global transformations in multimodal human communication and social practices in light of recent widespread change. The volume highlights the need to expand on the established approaches--Social Semiotics, Multimodal Discourse Analysis, and Multimodal (Inter)action Analysis--by complementing them with other analytical frameworks to better understand the impact of unprecedented global challenges, such as Covid-19, on the way humans communicate and make use of meaning-making resources. Bringing together established and emergent scholars from a variety of geographical, cultural, and linguistic contexts, the collection presents studies from both the Global North and Global South, including South Africa, Latin America, Brazil, and the Caribbean, to showcase new perspectives in multimodality research. This innovative book will be of interest to students and scholars in multimodality, social semiotics, and discourse analysis.

Download or read book Interdisciplinary Practices in Academia written by Louisa Buckingham and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2023-03-30 with total page 209 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume addresses the implications that academic interdisciplinarity in the field of English for Academic Purposes (EAP) and English for Specific Purposes (ESP) has for research and pedagogy with a global reach. The Editors present a coherent, research-supported analysis of the influence of interdisciplinary research and methods on the way academics collaborate on courses, develop their careers and teach students. The hitherto prevalence of disciplinary silo-like approaches to academic and scientific issues is increasingly ceding ground to an interdisciplinary synergy of different methodological and epistemological traditions. In the context of ongoing trends towards interdisciplinarity in degree programmes and the increasing popularity of such degree programmes with students (e.g., bioinformatics, computational linguistics, psycholinguistics, neuropolitics, evolutionary finance, global studies, and security studies), academics and programme administrators need awareness of the skills needed to operate in interdisciplinary contexts. Studies in this edited volume examine interdisciplinary communication practices, and identify how academic writing, teaching, language proficiency assessment and degree programmes are responding to changes in the broader social, institutional and political contexts of academia. As authors in the volume demonstrate, the discursive features, literacy practices and instructional modes, and the student experience of these emerging interdisciplines deserve systematic exploration. This insightful volume sheds light on contexts across the globe and will be used by students studying EAP and ESP pedagogy or practice; academics in the fields of applied linguistics and higher education, as well as higher education faculty and administrators interested in interdisciplinarity in degree programmes.

Download or read book Handbook of Second Language Assessment written by Dina Tsagari and published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. This book was released on 2016-03-07 with total page 460 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Second language assessment is ubiquitous. It has found its way from education into questions about access to professions and migration. This volume focuses on the main debates and research advances in second language assessment in the last fifty years or so, showing the influence of linguistics, politics, philosophy, psychology, sociology, and psychometrics. There are four parts which, when taken together, address the principles and practices of second language assessment while considering its impact on society. Read separately, each part addresses a different aspect of the field. Part I deals with the conceptual foundations of second language assessment with chapters on the purposes of assessment, and standards and frameworks, as well as matters of scoring, quality assurance, and test validation. Part II addresses the theory and practice of assessing different second language skills including aspects like intercultural competence and fluency. Part III examines the challenges and opportunities of second language assessment in a range of contexts. In addition to chapters on second language assessment on a national scale, there are chapters on learning-oriented assessment, as well as the uses of second language assessment in the workplace and for migration. Part IV examines a selection of important issues in the field that deserve attention. These include the alignment of language examinations to external frameworks, the increasing use of technology to both deliver and score second language tests, the responsibilities associated with assessing test takers with special needs, the concept of 'voice' in second language assessment, and assessment literacy for teachers and other test and score users.

Download or read book Korean as a Heritage Language from Transnational and Translanguaging Perspectives written by Hyesun Cho and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2022-12-14 with total page 259 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This collection critically reflects on the state-of-the-art research on Korean-as-a-heritage-language (KHL) teaching and learning, centering KHL as an object of empirical inquiry by offering multiple perspectives on its practices and directions for further research. The volume expands prevailing notions of transnationalism and translanguaging by providing insights into the ways contemporary Korean immigrant and transnational families and individuals maintain their heritage language to participate in literary practices across borders. Experts from across the globe explore heritage language and literacy practices in Korean immigrant communities in varied geographic and educational contexts. In showcasing a myriad of perspectives across KHL research, the collection addresses such key questions as how heritage language learners’ literacy practices impact their identities, how their families support KHL development at home, and what challenges and opportunities stakeholders need to consider in KHL education and in turn, heritage language education, more broadly. This book will be of interest to families, teachers, scholars, and language program administrators in Korean language education, heritage language education, applied linguistics, and bilingual education.

Download or read book Bilingual Writers and Corpus Analysis written by David M. Palfreyman and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2022-12-23 with total page 299 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This innovative volume is one of the first to represent the usage of bilingual writers in both their languages, offering insight into language corpora as extremely valuable tools in contemporary applied linguistics research, and in turn, into how much of the world’s population operate daily. This book discusses one of the first examples of a bilingual writer corpus, the Zayed Arabic-English Bilingual Undergraduate Corpus (ZAEBUC), which includes writing by hundreds of students in two languages, with additional information about the writers and the texts. The result is a rich resource for research in multilingual use and learning of language. The book takes the reader through the design and use of such a corpus and illustrates the potential of this type of corpus with detailed studies that show how assessment, vocabulary, and discourse work across two very different languages. This volume will be of interest to scholars, policymakers, and educators in bilingualism, plurilingualism, language education, corpus design, and natural language processing.

Download or read book Reflexivity in Applied Linguistics written by Sal Consoli and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2023-01-18 with total page 209 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This edited collection provides research-informed guidance on how reflexivity may be practised in applied linguistics research. Specifically, we promote reflexivity as an essential hallmark of quality research and argue that doing reflexivity confers greater transparency, methodological rigour, depth, and trustworthiness to our scholarly inquiries. The collection features perspectives from different sub-fields of applied linguistics, including intercultural communication, language education, and multilingualism, and draws on data from a range of settings, including language cafés, classrooms, workplaces, and migration and displacement contexts. Each chapter follows a unified structure: theoretical background, context of the empirical study used as a backdrop for the chapter, an analysis of how reflexivity played out throughout the study, and conclusions which include takeaway points for other researchers. This approach allows readers to gain a sound understanding of the challenges and affordances of doing reflexivity in concrete examples of applied linguistics research whilst also gaining guidance on how to nurture and report on researcher reflexivity as this unfolds throughout the lifetime of a project. This book will appeal to students and scholars in applied linguistics, particularly those with an interest in research methods in the areas of language education, multilingualism, and intercultural communication.

Download or read book Crosslinguistic Influence in L3 Acquisition written by Eliane Lorenz and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2022-11-15 with total page 230 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores crosslinguistic influence in third language acquisition, drawing insights from a study of young bilingual secondary school students in Germany to unpack the importance of different variables in the acquisition and use of English as an additional language. Lorenz draws on data from a learner corpus of written and spoken picture descriptions toward analyzing sources of crosslinguistic influence in L3 acquisition in bilingual heritage speakers with unbalanced proficiency in heritage versus majority languages as compared with their monolingual German peers. This unique approach allows for a clearer understanding of the extent of influence of access to heritage languages, the impact of being a "balanced" vs "unbalanced" bilingual speaker, and the importance of extra-linguistic variables, such as age, gender, socio-economic status, and type of school. The final two chapters highlight practical considerations for the English language classroom and the implications of the study for future directions for research on third language acquisition. With its detailed overview of L2 and L3 acquisition and contribution toward ongoing debates on the advantages of being bilingual and multilingual, this book will be of interest to students and scholars in applied linguistics, foreign language acquisition, foreign language teaching, and learner corpus research.

Download or read book The Writings of Lyle F Bachman written by James Enos Purpura and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2024-07-31 with total page 501 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As one of the most recognized names in the fields of language assessment and applied linguistics, Lyle F. Bachman has produced a high volume of scholarly articles and books in the field of language assessment. These writings have strongly influenced the discipline and over the last three decades have played an uncontested role in shaping the field as we know it today. Until now, Bachman’s work has been spread across various mediums and not existed in one place. The Writings of Lyle F. Bachman is the first book to assemble Bachman’s work into a single, comprehensive volume. The collection is composed of seven major sections, each beginning with an introduction by the editors to provide context for the papers. The sections cover some of the most complex topics in the field, including validity and validation, the effects of test task characteristics, interfaces between language testing and second language acquisition, and epistemological issues in applied linguistics. The collection concludes with a state-of-the art paper and insightful reflections about the field of language assessment. The collection traces how Bachman’s ideas and research insights have evolved throughout the years. Given Bachman’s strong impact on the field of language assessment, this volume presents not only a collection of the writings, but also gives an overview of the ongoing issues and debates in the field. This book will be useful to both researchers and graduate students in the areas of language assessment and applied linguistics.