Author : Barry O'Sullivan
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 184 pages
File Size : 35,94 MB
Release : 2006-01-26
Category : Foreign Language Study
ISBN : 0521013305
This book describes the revision of the Cambridge ESOL Business English certificates, offering a unique insight into test revision.
Author : Betty Lanteigne
Publisher : Springer Nature
Page : 553 pages
File Size : 41,74 MB
Release : 2021-02-17
Category : Education
ISBN : 9813342323
This book combines insights from language assessment literacy and critical language testing through critical analyses and research about challenges in language assessment around the world. It investigates problematic practices in language testing which are relevant to language test users such as language program directors, testing centers, and language teachers, as well as teachers-in-training in Graduate Diploma and Master of Arts in Applied Linguistics programs. These issues involve aspects of language testing such as test development, test administration, scoring, and interpretation/use of test results. Chapters in this volume discuss insights about language testing policy, testing world languages, developing program-level language tests and tests of specific language skills, and language assessment literacy. In addition, this book identifies two needs in language testing for further examination: the need for collaboration between language test developers, language test users, and language users, and the need to base language tests on real-world language use.
Author : Mirosław Pawlak
Publisher : Springer
Page : 269 pages
File Size : 46,89 MB
Release : 2014-11-13
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 3642383394
The volume constitutes a state-of-the-art account of issues related to teaching, learning and testing speaking in a second language. It brings together contributions by Polish and international scholars which seek to create links between theory, research and classroom practice, report the findings of studies investigating the impact of linguistic, cognitive and affective factors on the development and use of speaking skills, and provide concrete pedagogic proposals for instruction and assessment in this area. As such, the book will be of interest not only to second language acquisition theorists and researchers, but also to foreign language teachers willing to enhance the quality of speaking instruction in their classrooms.
Author : Catherine Nickerson
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 269 pages
File Size : 39,32 MB
Release : 2015-09-16
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 1317439260
Introducing Business English provides a comprehensive overview of this topic, situating the concepts of Business English and English for Specific Business Purposes within the wider field of English for Special Purposes. This book draws on contemporary teaching and research contexts to demonstrate the growing importance of English within international business communication. Covering both spoken and written aspects of Business English, this book: examines key topics within Business English, including teaching Business English as a lingua franca, intercultural business interactions, blended learning and web-based communication; discusses the latest research on each topic, and possible future directions; features tasks and practical examples, a section on course design, and further resources. Written by two leading researchers and teachers, Introducing Business English is a must-read for advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students studying Business English, Business English as a Lingua Franca, and English for Specific Business Purposes.
Author : J. Charles Alderson
Publisher :
Page : 224 pages
File Size : 19,69 MB
Release : 1981
Category : Bilingualism
ISBN :
A symposium focusing on problems in the assessment of foreign or second language learning brought seven applied linguists together to discuss three areas of debate: communicative language testing, testing of English for specific purposes, and general language proficiency assessment. In each of these areas, the participants reviewed selected papers on the topic, reacted to them on paper, and discussed them as a group. The collected papers, reactions, and discussion reports on communicative language testing include the following: "Communicative Language Testing: Revolution or Evolution" (Keith Morrow) and responses by Cyril J. Weir, Alan Moller, and J. Charles Alderson. The next section, on testing of English for specific purposes, includes: "Specifications for an English Language Testing Service" (Brendan J. Carroll) and responses by Caroline M. Clapham, Clive Criper, and Ian Seaton. The final section, on general language proficiency, includes: "Basic Concerns in Test Validation" (Adrian S. Palmer and Lyle F. Bachman) and "Why Are We Interested in General Language Proficiency'?" (Helmut J. Vollmer), reactions of Arthur Hughes and Alan Davies, and the subsequent response of Helmut J. Vollmer. (MSE)
Author : Rebecca Kopriva
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 368 pages
File Size : 35,32 MB
Release : 2011-02-23
Category : Education
ISBN : 113559600X
More than any book to date, this one provides a comprehensive approach to designing, building, implementing and interpreting test results that validly measure the academic achievement of English language learners. It scaffolds the entire process of test development and implementation and discusses essential intervention points. The book provides the type of evidence-based guidance called for in federal mandates such as the NCLB legislation. Key features of this important new book include the following... Comprehensive – This book recommends methods for properly including ELLs throughout the entire test development process, addressing all essential steps from planning, item writing and reviews to analyses and reporting. Breadth and Depth of Coverage– Coverage includes discussion of the key issues, explanations and detailed instructions at each intervention point. Research Focus – All chapters include an extensive review of current research. Emerging Trends – The chapters summarize guidance appropriate for innovative computer-based assessments of the future as well as the paper-and-pencil tests of today. This book is appropriate for anyone concerned with the development and implementation of fair and accurate testing programs for English language learners. This includes university based researchers, testing personel at the federal, state and local levels, teachers interested in better assessing their diverse student populations and those involved in the testing industry. It is also appropriate for instructors teaching undergraduate and graduate courses devoted to testing the full range of students in todays schools.
Author : Lynda Taylor
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 409 pages
File Size : 13,2 MB
Release : 2011-08-25
Category : Foreign Language Study
ISBN : 0521736706
An up-to-date review of the relevant literature on assessing speaking.
Author : Ardeshir Geranpayeh
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 481 pages
File Size : 27,39 MB
Release : 2013-03-27
Category : Foreign Language Study
ISBN : 1107602637
This volume examines the nature of second language listening proficiency and how it can be assessed. The book highlights the need for test developers to provide a clear explication of the ability constructs which underpin the tests they offer in the public domain. This is increasingly necessary if claims about the validity of test score interpretation and use are to be supported both logically and with empirical evidence. It operationalises a comprehensive test validation framework which adopts a socio-cognitive perspective. The framework embraces six core components, examining and then analysing Cambridge ESOL listening tasks from the following perspectives: Test Taker; Cognitive Validity; Context Validity; Scoring Validity; Criterion-related Validity; and Consequential Validity.
Author : Ute Knoch
Publisher : Equinox Publishing (UK)
Page : 200 pages
File Size : 47,12 MB
Release : 2021
Category : English language
ISBN : 9781781799512
The ability to speak and write effectively is widely recognized as an important skill in many contexts and for many purposes, both personal, educational and professional. Because these skills are considered important in second and foreign language learning contexts, they are often included in performance assessments. The scoring of such performances is, however, a complex undertaking and has attracted much attention, both in first and second language learning contexts. The increasing use of automated scoring systems has added to this complexity in recent years. It is therefore all the more surprising that there is no book available that provides an overview of this topic area - the scoring of second language performances. This monograph fills this gap, by drawing together the latest literature in the area. It focusses on issues relating to both rater-mediated assessments and sets out consideration in relation to automated scoring systems (and other technology) which are increasingly used in our field. This monograph provides a useful introduction to graduate students, researchers, test developers, other practitioners and teachers to this topic which has in many ways dominated the field of language assessment over many decades.
Author : Rachel Yi-fen Wu
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 193 pages
File Size : 30,9 MB
Release : 2014-09-25
Category : Foreign Language Study
ISBN : 1107443946
"Validating Second Language Reading Examinations describes the development of an empirical framework for test validation and comparison of reading tests at different proficiency levels through a critical evaluation of alignment with the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR). It focuses on contextual parameters, cognitive processing operations and test results and identifies parameters for the description of different levels of reading proficiency examinations. The volume explores procedures for linking tests to the CEFR and proposes both qualitative and quantitative methods that complement the procedures recommended in the Council of Europe's Relating Language Examinations to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR): A Manual, piloted in 2003 and revised 2009. Key features of the book include: - a detailed review of the literature on CEFR alignment, vertical scaling, test specifications and test comparability - a comprehensive and coherent approach to the validation of reading tests - an accessible and systematic description of procedures for collecting validity evidence based on a sound theoretical framework - a case study comparing different testing systems targeting the same CEFR level"--
