A Principled Approach to Language Assessment PDF Download

Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309675480
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 113

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Book Description
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.

Author: Glenn Fulcher
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317443179
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 278

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Book Description
Winner of the SAGE/ILTA Book Award 2016 Re-examining Language Testing explores ideas that form the foundations of language testing and assessment. The discussion is framed within the philosophical and social beliefs that have forged the practices endemic in language education and policy today. From historical and cultural perspectives, Glenn Fulcher considers the evolution of language assessment, and contrasting claims made about the nature of language and human communication, how we acquire knowledge of language abilities, and the ethics of test use. The book investigates why societies use tests, and the values that have driven changes in practice over time. The discussion is presented within an argument that an Enlightenment inspired view of human nature and advancement is most suited to a progressive, tolerant, and principled theory of language testing and validation. Covering key topics such as measurement, validity, accountability and values, Re-examining Language Testing provides a unique and innovative analysis of the ideas and social forces that shape the practice of language testing. It is an essential read for advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students of Applied Linguistics and Education. Professionals working in language testing and language teachers will also find this book invaluable.

Author: Gary J. Ockey
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 9789811589546
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description
This edited book is a collection of papers, written by language assessment professionals to reflect the guidance of Professor Lyle F. Bachman, one of the leading second language assessment experts in the field for decades. It has three sub-themes: assessment of evolving language ability constructs, validity and validation of language assessments, and understanding internal structures of language assessments. It provides theoretical guidelines for practical language assessment challenges. Chapters are written by language assessment researchers who graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles, where Professor Bachman trained them including the book editors.

Author: H. Douglas Brown
Publisher: Pearson Education ESL
ISBN: 9780134860220
Category : Language acquisition
Languages : en
Pages : 400

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Book Description
Language Assessment: Principles and Classroom Practices is designed to offer a comprehensive survey of essential principles and tools for second language assessment. Its first and second editions have been successfully used in teacher-training courses, teacher certification curricula, and TESOL master of arts programs. As the third in a trilogy of teacher education textbooks, it is designed to follow H. Douglas Brown's other two books, Principles of Language Learning and Teaching (sixth edition, Pearson Education, 2014) and Teaching by Principles(fourth edition, Pearson Education, 2015). References to those two books are made throughout the current book. Language Assessment features uncomplicated prose and a systematic, spiraling organization. Concepts are introduced with practical examples, understandable explanations, and succinct references to supportive research. The research literature on language assessment can be quite complex and assume that readers have technical knowledge and experience in testing. By the end of Language Assessment, however, readers will have gained access to this not-so-frightening field. They will have a working knowledge of a number of useful, fundamental principles of assessment and will have applied those principles to practical classroom contexts. They will also have acquired a storehouse of useful tools for evaluating and designing practical, effective assessment techniques for their classrooms.

Author: Lyle Bachman
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0194218368
Category : Study Aids
Languages : en
Pages : 304

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Book Description
This book provides teachers with an entirely new approach to developing and using classroom-based language assessments. This approach is based on current theory and practice in the field of language assessment and on an understanding of the assessment needs of classroom teachers. The following key questions are addressed: • Why do I need to assess? What beneficial consequences do I want to help bring about? How can my assessments help my students learn better and help me improve my teaching? • When and how often do I need to assess? What decisions do I need to make to help bring about these beneficial consequences? • What do I need to assess? How can I define the abilities that I want to assess? • How can I assess my students? What kinds of assessment tasks should I create? How can I score my students’ responses to these tasks? The authors guide the reader step-by-step through the process of developing and using classroom-based assessments with clear explanations and definitions of key terms, illustrative examples, and activities for applying the approach in practice. Extra resources are available on the website: www.oup.com/elt/teacher/lact Lyle Bachman is Professor Emeritus of Applied Linguistics at the University of California, Los Angeles. He serves as a consultant in language testing research projects and in developing language assessments for universities and government agencies around the world, and he conducts courses and training workshops in language assessment. Barbara Damböck was Director of Studies of the English Department at the Teacher Training Academy in Dillingen, Germany, from 2003 to 2011. From 2003 to 2017 she supervised the training of oral examiners for the certification examination for elementary school English teachers in Bavaria. She has extensive experience as a classroom teacher, teacher trainer, and teacher of teacher trainers. She conducts courses and workshops for teachers and teacher trainers around the world.

Author: H. Douglas Brown
Publisher: Pearson PTR Interactive
ISBN:
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 340

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Book Description
Features: Solid foundation in the basics of validity and reliability, as well as all of the different forms of assessment Concise, comprehensive treatment of all four skills includes classification of assessment techniques. Thorough examination of standards-based assessment and standardized testing. Practical examples illustrate principles. End-of-chapter exercises and suggested additional readings provide opportunities for further exploration.

Author: Dina Tsagari
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN: 152754978X
Category : Foreign Language Study
Languages : en
Pages : 332

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Book Description
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.

Author: Paula Winke
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351034774
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 518

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Book Description
This Handbook, with 45 chapters written by the world’s leading scholars in second language acquisition (SLA) and language testing, dives into the important interface between SLA and language testing: shared ground where researchers seek to measure second language performance to better understand how people learn their second languages. The Handbook also reviews how to best measure and evaluate the second language (L2) learners’ personal characteristics, backgrounds, and learning contexts to better understand their L2 learning trajectories. Taking a transdisciplinary approach to research, the book builds upon recent theorizing and measurement principles from the fields of applied linguistics, cognitive science, psychology, psycholinguistics, psychometrics, educational measurement, and social psychology. The Handbook is divided into six key sections: (1) Assessment concepts for SLA researchers, (2) Building instruments for SLA research, (3) Measuring individual differences, (4) Measuring language development, (5) Testing specific populations, and (6) Measurement principles for SLA researchers.

Author: Rahma Al-Mahrooqi
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN: 1443870048
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 320

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Book Description
Language learning is a complex and challenging endeavor. For students to achieve the desired proficiency in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) their institutions need to invest time, effort and huge resources in order to cater for different learning styles. To be cost effective, many language-teaching institutions strive to provide intensive foreign language (FL) instruction to reduce the time period needed to learn the target language. This explains the current interest in combining differe...

Author: Patricia Murphy
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134334982
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description
This informative book looks at science learning in a wide range of contexts. It is divided into three parts. Part one deals with the arguments put forward for studying science, and includes a discussion on what science learners need to know about the nature of science and how decisions about what forms science curricula are made. Part two includes articles on the processes by which science is learned and part three deals with inclusivity and diversity in science learning and what widening participation means for science education. This is a companion book to Mediating Science Learning through ICT also published by RoutledgeFalmer. Reconsidering Science Learning will be of particular interest to teachers on masters courses in science education and academics with an interest in science education.