Understanding and Developing Language Tests

Understanding and Developing Language Tests
Author: Cyril J. Weir
Publisher:
Total Pages: 203
Release: 1993
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 9780139475320

This book attempts to develop a framework for constructing language tests which is consistent wirth a wide range of theoretical insights. The central aim is that it should provide teachers with the means of writing better tests.

Fundamental Considerations in Language Testing

Fundamental Considerations in Language Testing
Author: Lyle F. Bachman
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 428
Release: 1990-06-14
Genre: Foreign Language Study
ISBN: 9780194370035

Offers a discussion of the basic concerns which underlie the development and use of language tests. Presenting a synthesis of research on testing, this book is useful for students on teacher education courses. It is also helpful for those professionally involved in designing and administering tests, acting as a complement to 'how to' books.

Local Language Testing

Local Language Testing
Author: Slobodanka Dimova
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 228
Release: 2020-02-20
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 0429960328

Local Language Testing: Design, Implementation, and Development describes the language testing practice that exists in the intermediate space between large-scale standardized testing and classroom assessment, an area that is rarely addressed in the language testing and assessment literature. Covering both theory and practice, the book focuses on the advantages of local tests, fosters and encourages their use, and provides suggested ideas for their development and maintenance. The authors include examples of operational tests with well-proven track records and discuss: the ability of local tests to represent local contexts and values, explicitly and purposefully embed test results within instructional practice, and provide data for program evaluation and research; local testing practices grounded in the theoretical principles of language testing, drawing from experiences with local testing and providing practical examples of local language tests, illustrating how they can be designed to effectively function within and across different institutional contexts; examples of how local language tests and assessments are developed for use within a specific context and how they serve a variety of purposes (e.g., entry-level proficiency testing, placement testing, international teaching assistant testing, writing assessment, and program evaluation). Aimed at language program directors, graduate students, and researchers involved in language program development and evaluation, this is a timely book in that it focuses on the advantages of local tests, fosters and encourages their use, and outlines their development and maintenance. It constitutes essential reading for language program directors, graduate students, and researchers involved in language program development and evaluation.

Language Testing and Validation

Language Testing and Validation
Author: C. Weir
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 309
Release: 2004-11-22
Genre: Education
ISBN: 023051457X

Tests for the measurement of language abilities must be constructed according to a coherent validity framework based on the latest developments in theory and practice. This innovative book, by a world authority on language testing, deals with all key aspects of language test design and implementation. It provides a road map to effective testing based on the latest approaches to test validation. A book for all MA students in Applied Linguistics or TESOL, and for professional language teachers

Learning Test-Driven Development

Learning Test-Driven Development
Author: Saleem Siddiqui
Publisher: "O'Reilly Media, Inc."
Total Pages: 280
Release: 2021-10-12
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 109810644X

Your code is a testament to your skills as a developer. No matter what language you use, code should be clean, elegant, and uncluttered. By using test-driven development (TDD), you'll write code that's easy to understand, retains its elegance, and works for months, even years, to come. With this indispensable guide, you'll learn how to use TDD with three different languages: Go, JavaScript, and Python. Author Saleem Siddiqui shows you how to tackle domain complexity using a unit test-driven approach. TDD partitions requirements into small, implementable features, enabling you to solve problems irrespective of the languages and frameworks you use. With Learning Test-Driven Development at your side, you'll learn how to incorporate TDD into your regular coding practice. This book helps you: Use TDD's divide-and-conquer approach to tame domain complexity Understand how TDD works across languages, testing frameworks, and domain concepts Learn how TDD enables continuous integration Support refactoring and redesign with TDD Learn how to write a simple and effective unit test harness in JavaScript Set up a continuous integration environment with the unit tests produced during TDD Write clean, uncluttered code using TDD in Go, JavaScript, and Python

Validity Argument in Language Testing

Validity Argument in Language Testing
Author: Carol A. Chapelle
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 371
Release: 2021-01-21
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 110860238X

Language tests play pivotal roles in education, research on learning, and gate-keeping decisions. The central concern for language testing professionals is how to investigate whether or not tests are appropriate for their intended purposes. This book introduces an argument-based validity framework to help with the design of research that investigates the validity of language test interpretation and use. The book presents the principal concepts and technical terms, then shows how they can be implemented successfully in practice through a variety of validation studies. It also demonstrates how argument-based validity intersects with technology in language testing research and highlights the use of validity argument for identifying research questions and interpreting the results of validation research. Use of the framework helps researchers in language testing to communicate clearly and consistently about technical issues with each other and with researchers of other types of tests.

A Principled Approach to Language Assessment

A Principled Approach to Language Assessment
Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 113
Release: 2020-09-19
Genre: Education
ISBN: 0309675480

The United States is formally represented around the world by approximately 14,000 Foreign Service officers and other personnel in the U.S. Department of State. Roughly one-third of them are required to be proficient in the local languages of the countries to which they are posted. To achieve this language proficiency for its staff, the State Department's Foreign Service Institute (FSI) provides intensive language instruction and assesses the proficiency of personnel before they are posted to a foreign country. The requirement for language proficiency is established in law and is incorporated in personnel decisions related to job placement, promotion, retention, and pay. A Principled Approach to Language Assessment: Considerations for the U.S. Foreign Service Institute evaluates the different approaches that exist to assess foreign language proficiency that FSI could potentially use. This report considers the key assessment approaches in the research literature that are appropriate for language testing, including, but not limited to, assessments that use task-based or performance-based approaches, adaptive online test administration, and portfolios.

Language Assessment Literacy

Language Assessment Literacy
Author: Dina Tsagari
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
Total Pages: 332
Release: 2020-04-21
Genre: Foreign Language Study
ISBN: 152754978X

The field of language testing and assessment has recognized the importance and underlying theoretical and practical underpinnings of language assessment literacy (LAL), an area that is gradually coming to prominence. This book addresses issues that promote the concept of LAL for language research, teaching, and learning, covering a range of topics. It brings together 14 chapters based on high-stakes and classroom-based studies authored by academics, professionals and researchers in the field. The text examines diverse issues through a multifaceted approach, presenting high-quality contributions that fill a gap in a research area that has long been in need of theoretical and empirical attention.

Language Testing and Evaluation

Language Testing and Evaluation
Author: Desmond Allison
Publisher: World Scientific
Total Pages: 270
Release: 1999
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 9789971692261

This book brings together two related fields - language testing and language programme evaluation - in a way that no single introductory text has done, and seeks to encourage closer relations between the two in both academic curricula and professional practice. It introduces readers not just to basic concepts, but to some of the major social, educational and research concerns and activities that characterise language testing and evaluation. The book can serve either as a basic text for a taught course, or for self-study. All chapters include suggestions for further reading, and discussions frequently point towards possible explorations in classroom research and practice. A glossary of key concepts and a select annotated bibliography are provided. The book addresses the language teaching profession generally as well as students of applied linguistics and English language teaching.