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ISBN: 9780776606576

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Language Testing Reconsidered

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.

Contributors

Janna Fox

Janna Fox is an Associate Professor and Director of the Language Assessment and Testing Research Unit within the School of Linguistics and Applied Language Studies at Carleton University. She teaches courses in assessment, curriculum, and research methods. Her research interests are language test development and validation, and the interplay between assessment, curricula, and language policy.

Mari Wesche

Mari Wesche is a recently retired Professor and former Director of the Second Language Institute and is still active in the Education Graduate Studies program of the University of Ottawa. Her main teaching areas have been second language acquisition, assessment, and content-based second language instruction, with research emphases in second language vocabulary acquisition and assessment, language aptitude, performance-based testing, and immersion instruction.

Doreen Bayliss

Doreen Bayliss is the former head of Testing and Research Support Services at the Second Language Institute, University of Ottawa. Throughout her career, she has focused on test development and validation. Since her retirement, she has continued to engage in testing projects around the world.

Liying Cheng

Liying Cheng is an Associate Professor and a Director of the Assessment and Evaluation Group (AEG) at the Faculty of Education, Queen's University. Her primary research interests are the impact of large-scale testing of instruction, and the relationship between assessment and instruction in EFL/ESL classrooms.

Carolyn E. Turner

Carolyn E. Turner is an Associate Professor in the Department of Integrated Studies in Education at McGill University. Her main focus and commitment are language assessment and testing in educational settings and more recently in health care contexts concerning access for linguistic minorities. She pursues these through her research, teaching, and service.

Christine Does is a doctoral candidate studying language assessment in educational contexts in the Faculty of Education, Queen's University. Her specific research interests relate to the use of diagnostic assessment to support learning.

Christine ed. Doe

Christine Doe is in a doctoral program studying language assessment in educational contexts in the Faculty of Education, Queen's University. Her specific research interests relate to the use of diagnostic assessment to support learning.

Chapter Title Contents Contributors Pages Year Price

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Introduction 6 $0.60

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An elderly student of language testing recalls some of the events in his career, attempting to relate them to current issues, and touching on such topics as overall language proficiency, the … 10 $1.00

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The language testing literature is confused about the nature of diagnostic tests. Diagnosis is a frequently used but under-problematized concept and a debate is needed that might lead to a … 19 $1.90

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Understanding the roles of abilities and contexts, and the interactions between these as they affect performance on language assessment tasks, has remained a persistent problem in language … 31 $3.10

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The paper offers an explanatory account of the progress of academic language proficiency testing in the U.K. (and later Australia) from the British Council’s English Proficiency Test … 14 $1.40

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In this selective look at research on test-taking strategies over the last twenty-five years, brief mention is made of the beginnings of test-taker strategy research and then important … 23 $2.30

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This chapter introduces readers to several qualitative research methods as they relate to language testing and assessment, namely: Discourse and Conversation Analysis, Observation Checklists and … ; 17 $1.70

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Arguably the greatest challenge facing language testing is the issue of the context in which language testing is carried out, both at the micro and the macro level. In standard works on language … 7 $0.70

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In this chapter I discuss current uses of language tests in education and society, arguing that tests have become primary tools used by policy makers to resolve and reform educational, political, … 12 $1.20