Experimenting with Uncertainty : Studies in Language Testing #25

Essays in Honour of Alan Davies

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By: A. Brown (Editor), C. Elder (Editor), E. Grove (Editor), K. Hill (Editor), N. Iwashita (Editor)

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Published: 20th July 2001

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The International English Language Testing System (IELTS) plays a key role in international student access to universities around the world. Preparation courses for IELTS test takers are now widespread and opinions differ on the contribution of such such courses to the development of academic literacy skills.

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 appropriate as a tribute to Alan Davies, whose work in this field since the 1960s has been marked by its conceptual strength and social responsiveness, seeking constantly to clarify and challenge current practice and new trends.

The contribution of Alan Davies
Alan Davies and British Applied Linguistics2
Construct Definition in Language Testing
Communicative Language Testing: the Art of the Possible
Fossilisation or Evolution: the case of grammar testing
The assessment of metalinguistic knowledge
Language Testing for Specific Purposes and Populations
LSP: Three problems in testing language for specific purposes: authenticity, specificity and inseparability
Assessing language skills for specific purposes: describing the behaviour domain
The assessment of language impairment across language backgrounds
A process for translating achievement tests
Judgement in Language Testing
Revising raters and ratings in oral language assessment
Establishing meaningful language test scores for selection and placement
The Uses and Usefulness of Language Tests
Designing and developing useful language tests
Language assessment and professional development
The formative and summative uses of language test data: present concerns and future directions
Language Test Impact
The need for impact studies of L2 performance testing and rating: identifying areas of potential consequences at all levels of the testing cycle
Impact and washback research in language testing
Language Testing in its Policy Context
Prescribe language standards and foreign language classroom practice: relationships and consequences
Rendering ESL accountable: educational and bureaucratic technologies in the Australian context
Social and ethical concerns in English testing for migrants to New Zealand
Testimony from testees: the case against current language policies in sub-Saharan Africa
The Ethics of Language Testing
Cheating language tests can be dangerous
Ethics, fairness(es) and developments in language testing
The ethical potential of alternative language assessment
Language Testing and SLA
Quantitative evaluation of vocabulary - how it can be done and what it is good for
Some thoughts on testing grammar: an SLA perspective
Measuring development and ultimate attainment in non-native grammars
Beyond Language Testing
Fossilization: moving the concept into empirical longitudinal study
The unbearable lightness of being a native speaker
The Publications of Alan Davies
Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.

ISBN: 9780521775762
ISBN-10: 0521775760
Series: Studies in Language Testing
Audience: English as a Second Language (ESL)
Format: Paperback
Language: English
Number Of Pages: 341
Published: 20th July 2001
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Dimensions (cm): 22.900 x 15.300 x 2.600
Weight (kg): 0.581