Exploring Language Assessment and Testing

2015

Rendering a straightforward introduction and an all-inclusive overview for anyone concerned with common assessment issues in pedagogy and applied linguistics, the seminal work of Anthony Green, Exploring Language Assessment and Testing, proves to be adequate for the purpose. The book designates its overriding focus on apprising its practitioners-"students embarking on Masters level or teacher education courses, as well as students in the closing stages of undergraduate study" (p. xv)-on the practice of language assessment and testing while not leaving behind the techniques of making for and improving good-quality assessments. The book is divided into three major parts; Part I focuses on the practice of language assessment which and includes four chapters. Chapters 5 and 6 in Part II concentrate on theoretical insights imparting the process described in part I. Part III of the book which incorporates the last chapter, i.e. chapter 7, maps out assessment trends in progress as well as controversies in the field.

DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals), 2015

Language testing and assessment is a discipline within the broader field of applied linguistics where much has already been written on the subject. In his article 'Textbook Trends in Language Testing,' Alan Davies (2008) highlighted the abundance of publications on this topic. The recent guidebook, The Routledge Handbook of Language Testing (Fulcher & Davidson eds., 2012) also surveyed the area comprehensively. The question could then be asked as to what could another general guide to the discipline hope to achieve? This sister publication, from the Routledge Introductions to Applied Linguistics, Language in Action series, is another introductory guide that has, however, foregrounded practical concerns. Many research-oriented guidebooks to language testing have placed emphasis on theory over practice. The author here, though, has decided on a 'back-to-front' organization by initially focussing on practice and then moving on to related theory. This is its main differentiating feature from other introductory guides to language assessment. The author has also given particular emphasis to practising ESL/ELT teachers and Masters students in Applied Linguistics or Language Education.

Spolsky/Handbook, 2008

This outstanding multi-volume series covers all the major subdisciplines within linguistics today and, when complete, will offer a comprehensive survey of linguistics as a whole.

2020

Language assessment practitioners traditionally addressed the assessment impacts from a unilateral and narrow perspective in that they linked such impacts to a few numbers of stakeholders such as learners and teachers. This view echoed the nature of the assessment approach at that time that was essentially norm-referenced. New changes and challenges appeared with the birth of the modern testing theories that were driven by the necessary changes for a new assessment reform that is contingent upon the interaction between different parties such as tests, learners, test designers, teachers, test development, test-taking strategies, policy-makers, testing agencies, etc. To implement new changes in any assessment reform, it is recommended that key figures be active players in undertaking the necessary reforms. One of the challenges that poses a heavy burden on language teachers is the strong monopolization of the testing organizations to the assessment polices. For example, standardized a...

Language Assessment Quarterly, 2019

2004

Recently, the applied linguistics field has examined the knowledge, skills, and principles needed for assessment, defined as language assessment literacy. Two major issues in language assessment literacy have been addressed but not fully resolved—what exactly language assessment literacy is and how it differs among stakeholders (e.g., students and teachers). This reflective article reviews assessment literacy from general education experts and language education scholars and shows how the meaning of language assessment literacy has expanded. To add to the discussion of this construct, the article focuses on the specific language assessment literacy for language teachers and proposes a core list of assessment knowledge, skills, and principles for these stakeholders.

The Journal of AsiaTEFL