Social Perspectives on Language Testing PDF Download

Author: Carsten Roever
Publisher: Language Testing and Evaluation
ISBN: 9783631780091
Category : Language and languages
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
This Festschrift for Tim McNamara brings together papers on the social impact of language tests, such as fairness and justice of test use, testing of interaction, and teachers' and students' views of language tests. It also discusses the future of language testing with regard to validity, the rise of social media, and lingua franca language use.

Author: Elana Shohamy
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317875486
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 209

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Book Description
Language in Social Life is a major series which highlights the importance of language to an understanding of issues of social and professional concern. It will be of practical relevance to all those wanting to understand how the ways we communicate both influence and are influenced by the structures and forces of contemporary social institutions. In all modern societies individuals are subject to tests, whether to enter educational programs, to pass from one level to the next or to grant certificates to practice. Yet, tests are powerful tools which are often introduced in undemocratic and unethical ways as disciplinary tools for carrying out various policy agendas. Tests can be detrimental to people's lives as they are capable of affecting and defining the knowledge and behaviour of those who are being tested. The Power of Tests applies a critical perspective of language tests by examining their uses and consequences in education and society and by viewing tests not as isolated events but rather as embedded in social, educational and political contexts. The book is divided into four parts: the first part establishes the power of tests through echoing the voices of test takers, describing the features of the power of tests, and the temptations that tests offer to bureaucrats who use them for power and control. The second part reports on studies that provide empirical evidence about intentions and effects of a number of large scale language tests. The third part interprets the results by examining their consequences on education and society, arriving at a model of tests' use. The final section of the book offers strategies for controlling and minimising the misuses of tests by introducing the notion of Critical Language Testing which calls for the examination of the consequences and misuses of tests, monitoring of power and pointing to their unethical uses. It also provides a comprehensive discussion of the responsibilities of language testers, including a new Code of Ethics, as well as strategies for guarding and protecting the rights of test takers.

Author: Timothy Francis McNamara
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 9780194372220
Category : Foreign Language Study
Languages : en
Pages : 160

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Book Description
This book offers a succinct theoretical introduction to the basic concepts in language testing in a way that is easy to understand. In the Japanese context, this book is highly recommended for university faculty members involved in obtaining assessment literacy, teachers who want to validate their exploratory teaching and testing, or applied linguistics students new to the language testing field. The book is divided into four main sections. The first provides an overview of the principles of language testing. The next contains short extracts from the testing literature with questions which stimulate further thinking. Section 3 is a list of references with brief annotations and Section 4 a glossary of referenced testing terms.

Author: Glenn Fulcher
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317443179
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 278

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Book Description
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.

Author: Tim McNamara
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1405155434
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 322

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Book Description
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.

Author: Natasha Artemeva
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781032244846
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
"This volume reconsiders the role of context in language testing and assessment by applying key social theories, including theories of genre, situated learning, intercultural communication, multimodality, and interaction, to language testing and assessment research and practice"--

Author: Glenn Fulcher
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781315695518
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 232

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Book Description
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.

Author: Elana Shohamy
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 9789048191833
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
This volume addresses the broad theme and specific topics associated with current thinking in the field of language testing and assessment. The volume offers •multiple perspectives on the ‘what’ (the ‘trait’) of languages, and the ‘how’ (‘the method’) of assessment •multiple approaches developed for assessment especially given the multiplicity of languages used by many diverse groups of learners in many different contexts •focus on the societal roles of language testers, their responsibility to be socially accountable and to ensure ethicality and professionalism •focus on language testing in multilingual and diverse contexts This is one of ten volumes of the Encyclopedia of Language and Education published by Springer. The Encyclopedia bears testimony to the dynamism and evolution of the language and education field, as it confronts the ever-burgeoning and irrepressible linguistic diversity and ongoing pressures and expectations placed on education around the world.

Author: Desmond Allison
Publisher: World Scientific
ISBN: 9789971692261
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 270

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Book Description
This book brings together two related fields - language testing and language programme evaluation - in a way that no single introductory text has done, and seeks to encourage closer relations between the two in both academic curricula and professional practice. It introduces readers not just to basic concepts, but to some of the major social, educational and research concerns and activities that characterise language testing and evaluation. The book can serve either as a basic text for a taught course, or for self-study. All chapters include suggestions for further reading, and discussions frequently point towards possible explorations in classroom research and practice. A glossary of key concepts and a select annotated bibliography are provided. The book addresses the language teaching profession generally as well as students of applied linguistics and English language teaching.

Author: Tobias Haug
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 019088505X
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 473

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Book Description
"The identification of language problems and subsequent evaluation of interventions depend in part on the availability of useful and psychometrically robust assessments to determine the nature and severity of their problems and monitor progress. The purpose of these assessments may be to measure a child's language proficiency, that is, how they perform relative to other children and whether they have the language level expected and needed for schooling, or they may have a specifically clinical purpose, to identify the occurrence and nature of a disorder. The purpose of assessment is key to the aspects of language targeted in an assessment and the methods used to target these. In the case of spoken English, there are many language assessments ranging from broad language tests to more narrowly focused measures, reflecting the complexity of the language system and its use"--