Construct validity and building validity arguments are some of the main challenges facing the language assessment community. The notion of construct validity and validity arguments arose from research in psychological assessment and developed into the gold standard of validation/validity research in language assessment. At a theoretical level,…

Research Findings: The aim of this study was to construct and validate "English Picture Vocabulary Test (EPVT)" that aimed to assess the very young learners' (VYLs) receptive and expressive vocabulary knowledge for specific content areas in English as a foreign language (EFL). In this context, EPVT was created in several stages. One of…

Although language test-takers have been the focus of much theoretical and empirical work in recent years, this work has been mainly concerned with their attitudes to test preparation and test-taking strategies, giving insufficient attention to their views on broader socio-political and ethical issues. This article examines test-takers' perceptions…

Spain has followed the lead of other Western countries by establishing new citizenship requirements for immigrants. In 2015, the "Real Decreto" 1004/2015 was passed, making both knowledge of culture and history of Spain and knowledge of Spanish language a requisite for immigrants wishing to become citizens. In order to fulfill this legal…

Based on the articles written by mainland Chinese scholars published in the most influential Chinese and international journals, the present article analyzed the language testing research, compared the tendencies of seven categories between 2000-2009 and 2010-2019, and put forward future research directions by referring to international hot…

Language test preparation has often been studied within the consequential validity framework in relation to ethics, equity, fairness, and washback of assessment. The use of independent and integrated speaking tasks in the "TOEFL iBT"® test represents a significant development and innovation in assessing speaking ability in academic…

There are increasing numbers of non-native English speaking applicants to Canadian universities (AUCC 2008a, 2010), which are committed to promoting linguistic and cultural diversity (AUCC 2008b). One result of this trend is that university admissions officers, as gatekeepers, are faced with a growing and potentially confusing array of language…

A number of scholars have questioned the practice of assessing academic writing in the context of a one-off language test, claiming that the time restrictions imposed in the test environment, when compared to the writing conditions typical at university, may prevent learners from displaying the kinds of writing skills required in academic…

Looks at the use of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), the most widely used test to assess the English language proficiency of students applying to colleges and universities in the United States or Canada. Examines the TOEFL in relation to backwash, reliability, administration, validity, and ethics. (Author/VWL)

Describes five basic elements that need to be considered with every test: backwash; reliability, administrative concerns; validity; and ethics. These elements are discussed in relation to tests for students who are second language learners of English. (Author/VWL)

Reviews developments in language testing research and practice over the last 20 years, and suggests future directions in the areas of professionalizing the field and validation research. Argues that concerns for ethical conduct must be grounded in valid test use, so that professionalization and validation research are inseparable. (Author/VWL)

Argues that language tests employing methods not fair to all test takers are unethical. Ways of reducing sources of unfairness in language testing is discussed. (15 references) (Author/CK)

Since the last "TESOL Quarterly" commemorative issue 15 years ago, there have been too many important developments in language testing and assessment for all of them to be discussed in a single article. Therefore, this article focuses on issues that we believe are integrally linked to pedagogic and curriculum concerns of English language teaching.…

"Educational Measurement" has been the bible in its field since the first edition was published by ACE in 1951. The importance of this fourth edition of "Educational Measurement" is to extensively update and extend the topics treated in the previous three editions. As such, the fourth edition documents progress in the field and…