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 University English for Academic Purposes in China written by Xiaofei Rao and published by Springer. This book was released on 2018-07-07 with total page 216 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book uses an in-depth, phenomenological interview approach to explain the generational characteristics of today’s Chinese university youths and the critical dispositions they believe indispensable in acquiring English as an academic language in and outside school settings. By presenting the authentic voices of the recruited participants, the book clarifies how English for academic purposes (EAP), as an emerging global phenomenon and a research-informed practice, enables and empowers them for conscious self-transformation and critical awareness development through language study. The book also explores issues arising in the fields of general English language teaching as well as traditional and critical EAP, and discusses university English language learners’ learning needs and rights. The book further promotes a dynamic and transformative University EAP pedagogy of particularity, practicality, and possibility moving from the oppression of language education to its liberation, and the increasing critical consciousness among the present and future university youths in a time of great social changes.

Download or read book Fundamental Considerations in Technology Mediated Language Assessment written by Karim Sadeghi and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2023-04-27 with total page 221 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fundamental Considerations in Technology Mediated Language Assessment aims to address issues such as how the forced integration of technology into second language assessment has shaped our understanding of key traditional concepts like validity, reliability, washback, authenticity, ethics, fairness, test security, and more. Although computer-assisted language testing has been around for more than two decades in the context of high-stakes proficiency testing, much of language testing worldwide has shifted to “at-home” mode, and relies heavily on the mediation of digital technology, making its widespread application in classroom settings in response to the COVID-19 outbreak unprecedented. Integration of technology into language assessment has brought with it countless affordances and at the same time challenges, both theoretically and practically. One major theoretical consideration requiring attention is the way technology has contributed to a reconceptualization of major assessment concepts/constructs. There is very limited literature available on the theoretical underpinnings of technology mediated language assessment. This book aims to fill this gap. This book will appeal to academic specialists, practitioners, or professionals in the field of language assessment, advanced and/or graduate students, and a range of scholars or professionals in disciplines like educational technology, applied linguistics, and teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL).

Download or read book A Theory of Applied Linguistics written by Albert Weideman and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on with total page 314 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Language Testing written by Tim McNamara and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2006-11-10 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Winner of the SAGE/ILTA Award for Best Book on Language Testing 2009 This volume focuses on the social aspects of language testing, including assessment of socially situated language use and societal consequences of language tests. The authors argue that traditional approaches to ensuring social fairness in tests go some way to addressing social concerns, but a broader perspective is necessary to examine the functions of tests on a societal scale. Considers these issues in relation to language assessment in oral proficiency interviews, and to the assessment of second language pragmatics. Argues that traditional approaches to ensuring social fairness in tests go some way to addressing social concerns, but a broader perspective is necessary if we are to fully understand the social dimension of language assessment.

Download or read book The Cambridge Guide to Second Language Assessment written by Christine Coombe and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2012-01-30 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The Cambridge Guide to Second Language Assessment aims to present in one volume an up-to-date guide to the central areas of assessing the second language performance of English by speakers of other languages. This volume provides snapshots of significant issues and trends that have shaped language assessment in the past and highlights the current state of our understanding of these issues"--

Download or read book Testing Second Language Speaking written by Glenn Fulcher and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-10-13 with total page 311 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The testing and assessment of second language learners is an essential part of the language learning process. Glenn Fulcher's Testing Second Language Speaking is a state-of-the-art volume that considers the assessment of speaking from historical, theoretical and practical perspectives. The book offers the first systematic, comprehensive and up-to-date treatment of the testing of second language speaking. Written in a clear and accessible manner, it covers: Explanations of the process of test design Costing test design projects How to put the test into practice Evaluation of speaking tests Task types for testing speaking Testing learners with disabilities It also contains a wealth of examples, including task types that are commonly used in speaking tests, approaches to researching speaking tests and specific methodologies that teachers, students and test developers may use in their own projects. Successfully integrating practice and theory, this book demystifies the process of testing speaking and provides a thorough treatment of the key ethical and technical issues in speaking evaluation.

Download or read book Re examining Language Testing written by Glenn Fulcher and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2015-06-12 with total page 278 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Winner of the SAGE/ILTA Book Award 2016 Re-examining Language Testing explores ideas that form the foundations of language testing and assessment. The discussion is framed within the philosophical and social beliefs that have forged the practices endemic in language education and policy today. From historical and cultural perspectives, Glenn Fulcher considers the evolution of language assessment, and contrasting claims made about the nature of language and human communication, how we acquire knowledge of language abilities, and the ethics of test use. The book investigates why societies use tests, and the values that have driven changes in practice over time. The discussion is presented within an argument that an Enlightenment inspired view of human nature and advancement is most suited to a progressive, tolerant, and principled theory of language testing and validation. Covering key topics such as measurement, validity, accountability and values, Re-examining Language Testing provides a unique and innovative analysis of the ideas and social forces that shape the practice of language testing. It is an essential read for advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students of Applied Linguistics and Education. Professionals working in language testing and language teachers will also find this book invaluable.

Download or read book The Politics of English Second Language Writing Assessment in Global Contexts written by Todd Ruecker and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2018-04-17 with total page 236 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Reflecting the internationalization of the field of second language writing, this book focuses on political aspects and pedagogical issues of writing instruction and testing in a global context. High-stakes assessment impacts the lives of second language (L2) writers and their teachers around the world, be it the College English Test in China, Common Core-aligned assessments in the U.S., English proficiency tests in Poland, or the material conditions (such as access to technology, training, and other resources) affecting a classroom. With contributions from authors working in ten different countries in a variety of institutional contexts, the chapters examine the uses and abuses of various writing-related assessments, and the policies that determine their form and use. Representing a diverse range of contexts, methods, and disciplines, the authors jointly call for more equitable testing systems that consider the socioeconomic, psychometric, affective, institutional, and needs of all students who strive to gain access to education and employment opportunities related to English language proficiency.

Download or read book European Language Testing in a Global Context written by Michael Milanovic and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2004-04-19 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The conference papers presented in ths volume represent a small subset of the many excellent presentations made at that event.

Download or read book Local Language Testing written by Slobodanka Dimova and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-02-20 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Local Language Testing: Design, Implementation, and Development describes the language testing practice that exists in the intermediate space between large-scale standardized testing and classroom assessment, an area that is rarely addressed in the language testing and assessment literature. Covering both theory and practice, the book focuses on the advantages of local tests, fosters and encourages their use, and provides suggested ideas for their development and maintenance. The authors include examples of operational tests with well-proven track records and discuss: the ability of local tests to represent local contexts and values, explicitly and purposefully embed test results within instructional practice, and provide data for program evaluation and research; local testing practices grounded in the theoretical principles of language testing, drawing from experiences with local testing and providing practical examples of local language tests, illustrating how they can be designed to effectively function within and across different institutional contexts; examples of how local language tests and assessments are developed for use within a specific context and how they serve a variety of purposes (e.g., entry-level proficiency testing, placement testing, international teaching assistant testing, writing assessment, and program evaluation). Aimed at language program directors, graduate students, and researchers involved in language program development and evaluation, this is a timely book in that it focuses on the advantages of local tests, fosters and encourages their use, and outlines their development and maintenance. It constitutes essential reading for language program directors, graduate students, and researchers involved in language program development and evaluation.

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 Practicing Theory in Second Language Writing written by Tony Silva and published by Parlor Press LLC. This book was released on 2010-01-15 with total page 199 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Theory has been used widely in the field of second language writing. Second language writing specialists—teachers, researchers, and administrators—have yet to have an open and sustained conversation about what theory is, how it works, and, more important, how to practice theory. Practicing Theory in Second Language Writing features fourteen essays by distinguished scholars in second language writing who explore various aspects of theoretical work that goes on in the field.

Download or read book Challenges in Language Testing Around the World written by Betty Lanteigne and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2021-02-17 with total page 553 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book combines insights from language assessment literacy and critical language testing through critical analyses and research about challenges in language assessment around the world. It investigates problematic practices in language testing which are relevant to language test users such as language program directors, testing centers, and language teachers, as well as teachers-in-training in Graduate Diploma and Master of Arts in Applied Linguistics programs. These issues involve aspects of language testing such as test development, test administration, scoring, and interpretation/use of test results. Chapters in this volume discuss insights about language testing policy, testing world languages, developing program-level language tests and tests of specific language skills, and language assessment literacy. In addition, this book identifies two needs in language testing for further examination: the need for collaboration between language test developers, language test users, and language users, and the need to base language tests on real-world language use.

Download or read book Second Language Testing for Student Evaluation and Classroom Research written by Greta Gorsuch and published by IAP. This book was released on 2017-10-01 with total page 394 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Second Language Testing for Student Evaluation and Classroom Research and its accompanying Student Workbook are introductory?level resources for classroom teachers of all levels of experience, and early?career graduate students in applied linguistics, TESOL, and second/foreign language teaching programs. The book gives a balance between practice and theory for student evaluation, and also aims for readers to use testing to connect to classroom research and to their own teaching. Indeed, Second Language Testing for Student Evaluation and Classroom Research aims at self?discovery and empowerment for readers, even as second language testing as a field undergoes major shifts in scope and areas of concern. Second Language Testing offer a strong basis for readers who wish to analyze and improve their own classroom tests, and for readers who wish to evaluate standardized tests they are required to use, or are thinking of using. We work with the general idea, “OK, now that I know test X has these strengths and weaknesses, what do I do?” Or, “Alright here are students’ scores, now how do I use them in my teaching?” At the same time our book provides more in?depth treatments of key testing topics for those readers who want to know “Why?” and “How?” “Why these terms?” “Why this or that analysis?” “Why does it work?” “How does it work?” “What do these numbers mean?” “How do I use them and how do I explain them to my students, my colleagues, my supervisors?” Second Language Testing for Student Evaluation and Classroom Research includes five Appendices for those readers whose interests continue into more advanced areas. Our information and observations on issues such as rater training (Appendix B) are current and discerning, and our Reference section and Glossary would be valued by any advanced testing practitioner or researcher. Second Language Testing is useful to readers at varied levels of engagement, at their choice.

Download or read book Handbook of Research in Second Language Teaching and Learning written by Eli Hinkel and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2016-11-18 with total page 530 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Volume III of the Handbook of Research in Second Language Teaching and Learning, like Volumes I and II, is a comprehensive, state-of-the-art overview of current research into social contexts of second language (L2)/foreign language (FL) teaching and learning; language policy; curriculum; types of instruction; incremental language skills such as listening, speaking, reading, writing, vocabulary, and grammar; international communication; pragmatics; assessment and testing. It differs from earlier volumes in its main purpose—to provide a more in-depth discussion and detailed focus on the development of the essential language skills required for any type of communication: speaking, listening, reading, vocabulary, grammar, and writing. Volume III preserves continuity with previous volumes in its coverage of all the classical areas of research in L2/FL teaching and learning and applied linguistics, but rather than offering a historical review of disciplinary traditions, it explores innovations and new directions of research, acknowledges the enormous complexity of teaching and learning the essential language abilities, and offers a diversity of perspectives. Chapter authors are all leading authorities in their disciplinary areas. What’s new in Volume III? Updates the prominent areas of research, including the sub-disciplines addressed in Volumes I and II, and represents the disciplinary mainstays Considers and discusses perspectives held by different schools of thought on the what, the how, and the why of teaching foundational language skills, including theories, pedagogical principles, and their implementation in practice Captures new and ongoing developments and trends in the key areas of L2/FL teaching and learning, and innovative research topics that have gained substantial recognition in current publications, including the role of corpora, technology, and digital literacy in L2/FL teaching and learning Examines new trends in language pedagogy and research, such as an increased societal emphasis on teaching academic language for schooling, somewhat contradictory definitions of literacy, and the growing needs for instruction in intercultural communication.

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 462 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.