In this commentary, the authors have set out some areas where they see overlaps between the original position paper and the current discussion around theory and practice in language assessment, the key consideration of washback, and the need for a greater awareness of, and engagement with, the assessment literacy of policy-makers and other key…

As the number of candidates who repeat English language proficiency tests more than once to meet a certain cutscore (e.g., for university admission) or to demonstrate progress (e.g., after instruction) continues to increase dramatically, there is a need for more research on the attributes and test performance of test repeaters. This article…

In this interview, JD Brown reflects on language testing/assessment. He suggests that language testing can be seen as a continuum with hard core positivist approaches at one end and post modernist interpretive perspectives at the other, and also argues that norm referencing (be it proficiency, placement, or aptitude testing) and criterion…

In this article, the author begins by discussing four challenges on the concept of validity. These challenges are: (1) the appeal to logic and syllogistic reasoning; (2) the claim of reliability; (3) the local and the universal; and (4) the unitary and the divisible. In language testing validity cannot be achieved directly but only through a…

Those who work in second- and foreign-language testing often find Koretz's concern for validity inferences under high-stakes (VIHS) conditions both welcome and familiar. While the focus of the article is more narrowly on the potential for two instructional responses to test-based accountability, "reallocation" and "coaching,"…

Whenever a major intelligence or achievement test is revised, there is always renewed interest in the underlying structure of the test as well as a renewed interest in the scoring, administration, and interpretation changes. In this interview, Amy Gabel discusses the most recent revision of the "Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Fifth…

The paper by Wilson and Moore (this volume), based on the Messick Lecture delivered in 2006 at the annual Language Testing Research Colloquium in Melbourne, may present a familiar challenge to some language testers: of reading outside one's comfort zone. The distinctive character of language testing lies in its combination of two primary fields of…

This article presents the author's response to Xiaoming Xi's paper titled "How do we go about investigating test fairness?" In the paper, Xi offers "a means to fully integrate fairness investigations and practice". Given the current importance accorded to fairness in the language testing community, Xi makes a case for viewing fairness as an aspect…

This paper presents the author's critique on Xiaoming Xi's article, "How do we go about investigating test fairness?," which lays out a broad framework for studying fairness as comparable validity across groups within the population of interest. Xi proposes to develop a fairness argument that would identify and evaluate potential fairness-based…

Just like buildings, tests are designed and built for specific purposes, people, and uses. However, both buildings and tests grow and change over time as the needs of their users change. Sometimes, they are also both used for purposes other than those intended in the original designs. This paper explores architecture as a metaphor for language…

In this speech, the author covers a lot of ground. In the first half of his speech, the author gives a brief summary of the last 40 years of the history of language testing, from his perspective. The author reviews these years more or less by decade. Additionally, he discusses the evolution of the profession of language testing during this period,…

Discusses two studies that explore the possibilities of adopting the C-Test (which involves the deletion of the second half of every other word in the text, leaving the first and last sentence intact) for testing Hebrew. Suggests the test be used with the cloze test for assessing similar things. (SED)

Presents a framework that takes as its starting point an analysis of test purpose, and then shows how purpose can be systematically related to test design. Argues that the way forward for vocabulary assessment is to take account of test purposes in the design and validation of tests, as well as considering an interactionalist approach to construct…

Looks at recent approaches to communicative language testing and to the testing of English for specific purposes (ESP). Contrasts two approaches to language testing research and discusses Oller's unitary competence hypothesis. Examines problems deriving from scoring procedures associated with ESP tests. (SED)

This article presents an analysis of Ordinate Corporation's PhonePass Spoken English Test-10. The company promotes this product as being a useful assessment tool for screening job candidates' ability in spoken English. In the real-life domain of the work environment, one of the primary target language use tasks involves extended production…