Language testers have generally come to recognize the limitations of traditional statistical methods for validating oral language tests. They have begun to consider more innovative approaches to test validation, approaches that promise to illuminate the assessment process itself, rather than just assessment outcomes (i.e., ratings). One such approach is conversation analysis (or CA), a rigorous empirical methodology developed by sociologists, which employs inductive methods in order to discover and describe the recurrent, systematic properties of conversation, including sequential...

This volume contains a selection of research papers that were presented at the 15th Annual Language Testing Research Colloquium (LTRC) on the themes of performance testing, and on aspects of communication in relation to cognition and assessment. This edited collection includes contributions reporting research into the testing of speaking and writing, especially in relation to raters, tasks and assessment criteria, contributions exploring the application of various statistical methods in langauge test validation and contributions addressing the issues relating to langauge testing in specific...

This volume brings together a set of ten IELTS-related research studies - four on Speaking and six on Writing - conducted between 1995 and 2001. The ten studies were funded under the auspices of the British Council/IELTS Australia Joint-funded Research Program which promotes research activity among IELTS test stakeholders around the world. Findings from the studies provided valuable evidence on the validity, reliability, impact and practicality of the IELTS test; they were also instrumental in highlighting aspects needing attention, and so directly informed the revised design and...

The volume offers an explanatory account of the progress of academic language proficiency testing in the UK (and later Australia), from the British Council's English Proficiency Test Battery (EPTB), through the revolutionary English Language Testing Service (ELTS) to the present solution of IELTS. The three stages of academic language testing in the UK over the last 50 years move from grammar through real life to features of language use. At the same time, comparison of predictive validities suggests that all three measures account for very similar shares of the variance (about 10%) and that...

Despite persistent assertions of washback (the influence of testing on teaching and learning) limited research studies have been undertaken on the subject. Even fewer studies have made use of quantitative and qualitative methods to examine washback. This book, at the intersection of language testing and teaching practices/programs, investigates the impact of the introduction of the 1996 Hong Kong Certificate of Education in English, a high-stakes public examination, on classroom teaching and learning in Hong Kong secondary schools. The washback effect was observed initially at the macro...

This Dictionary of Language Testing was written over a number of years by a group of researchers at the Language Testing Research Centre at the University of Melbourne. It contains some 600 entries, each listed under a headword with extensive cross-referencing. It is intended for those who may or may not have had experience in the field of language assessment but who do have a need for information. It is intended as a first stage in meeting that need, and intends to provide an orientation and, where appropriate, indicate where next to look.

The Equivalence of Direct and Semi-Direct Speaking Tests documents a comparability study of direct (face-to-face) and semi-direct (language laboratory) versions of the speaking component of the access test: an English language test designed in the 1990s as part of the selection process for immigration to Australia. In the study the issue of test equivalence is explored using a range of quantitative and qualitative evidence including test scores, test taker language output and feedback from various 'players' in the test process including members of the development team, test candidates,...

This book clarifies the concept of impact and related terms, such as washback, evaluation, monitoring and validation, and focuses on the impact of language tests and language programmes on a range of stakeholders, including test-takers, teachers, textbook writers, testers and institutions. First-hand experience is cited from two new impact studies. One analyses the impact of the International English Language Testing System (IELTS), the second looks at the Progetto Lingue 2000 (Year 2000 Languages Project), a state-school foreign-language education improvement programme undertaken by the...

Language testers are increasingly directing their attention to the development of computer-adaptive testing (CAT) instruments for assessing learners' second language ability. Issues in Computer-Adaptive Testing of Reading Proficiency examines CAT instruments used to assess the receptive skills, with a strong focus on reading ability, as well as a critical discussion of CAT practices from the point of view of performance assessment. This volume is the first to adopt a multi-disciplinary approach and is written by leading scholars in their respective fields. The chapters are grouped into three...

This Festschrift brings together 28 invited papers surveying the state of the art in language testing. The papers, by key figures in the field of language testing, cover issues ranging from test construct definition to the design and applications of language tests, including their importance as a means of exploring larger issues in language teaching, language learning and language policy. The volume locates work in language assessment in a context of social, political and ethical issues at a time when testing is increasingly expected to be publicly accountable. It is thus particularly...