Language testing. Part 1

Skehan, Peter

doi:10.1017/s0261444800005218

Cited by 20 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 90 publications

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“…For language assessment, several scholars have surveyed the literature and divided its development into distinct periods (Spolsky, 1977(Spolsky, , 1995Weir, 1990;Davies, 2014), while characterizing its historical events (Spolsky, 2017). Alternatively, some provided valuable personal reflections on the published literature (Davies, 1982;Skehan, 1988;Bachman, 2000;Banerjee, 2001, 2002). Examples of personal reflections on specific parts of language assessment history also include Spolsky's (1990) paper on the "prehistory" of oral examinations and Weir et al's (2013) historical review of Cambridge assessments.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Extensive Knowledge Mapping Review of Measurement and Validity in Language Assessment and SLA Research

et al. 2020

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This study set out to investigate intellectual domains as well as the use of measurement and validation methods in language assessment research and second language acquisition (SLA) published in English in peer-reviewed journals. Using Scopus, we created two datasets: (i) a dataset of core journals consisting of 1,561 articles published in four language assessment journals, and (ii) a dataset of general journals consisting of 3,175 articles on language assessment published in the top journals of SLA and applied linguistics. We applied document co-citation analysis to detect thematically distinct research clusters. Next, we coded citing papers in each cluster based on an analytical framework for measurement and validation. We found that the focus of the core journals was more exclusively on reading and listening comprehension assessment (primary), facets of speaking and writing performance such as raters and validation (secondary), as well as feedback, corpus linguistics, and washback (tertiary). By contrast, the primary focus of assessment research in the general journals was on vocabulary, oral proficiency, essay writing, grammar, and reading. The secondary focus was on affective schemata, awareness, memory, language proficiency, explicit vs. implicit language knowledge, language or semantic awareness, and semantic complexity. With the exception of language proficiency, this second area of focus was absent in the core journals. It was further found that the majority of citing publications in the two datasets did not carry out inference-based validation on their instruments before using them. More research is needed to determine what motivates authors to select and investigate a topic, how thoroughly they cite past research, and what internal (within a field) and external (between fields) factors lead to the sustainability of a Research Topic in language assessment.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Extensive Knowledge Mapping Review of Measurement and Validity in Language Assessment and SLA Research

et al. 2020

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“…Butler 2007). Boonop is die bemeestering van inhoud wat in akademiese skryfwerk ten toon gestel moet word, sowel as die vermoë om dit op 'n grammatikaal korrekte, goed gestruktureerde, gepaste, samehangende en vloeiende wyse te produseer (Lasagabaster 2008;Skehan 1988;Spolsky 1973) aansienlik moeiliker as wat van leerders op skool verwag is. Akademiese skryfwerk moet aan ander skryfkonvensies voldoen as waaraan studente tipies gewoond is; verskillende dissiplines vereis boonop soms spesifieke benaderings en praktyke (Hyland 2004;Swales & Feak 2000).…”

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Digitale hulp vir akademiese Afrikaans – eerste lesse uit ’n ontwikkelingsprojek

et al. 2021

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Digital assistance for academic Afrikaans – first lessons from a development project: This article identifies digital assistance in the development of academic writing skills (specifically in Afrikaans) as a problem that can be partially improved with annotated data from an appropriate corpus. Reference is made to the corpus that ICELDA and SADILAR developed and annotated for informing the development of the software package, Skryfhulp Afrikaans. The emphasis in the article is on the purpose and usefulness of the annotated data within the context of ICELDA and SADILAR’s mandates, and the preliminary findings of the first trial run with the data annotation indicating that the project is headed in the right direction, considered from a pedagogical perspective.

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Fifty Years of Language Assessment

Davies

2013

The Companion to Language Assessment

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The chapter provides a critical review of institutional language testing over the 50‐year period following the publication of Robert Lado's Language Testing (1961). It is argued that, over the period, language testing has professionalized itself, as shown by research, university degree courses, international journals and publications, national and international language‐testing associations and codes of ethics. A compromise was found early in the period between competence (structure) and performance (communication) following the brief venture into communicative language testing. The period represents a move away from a primary concern with test reliability to a wider interest in validity, from an emphasis on language testing content (especially language for specific purpose) and method (notably statistical procedures and technological resources) to a mature concern for the use of language tests and the extent of the profession's responsibility for that use.

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Language testing. Part 1

Cited by 20 publications

References 90 publications

An Extensive Knowledge Mapping Review of Measurement and Validity in Language Assessment and SLA Research

An Extensive Knowledge Mapping Review of Measurement and Validity in Language Assessment and SLA Research

Digitale hulp vir akademiese Afrikaans – eerste lesse uit ’n ontwikkelingsprojek

Fifty Years of Language Assessment

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