Language Testing and Assessment in Society

Module overview

This module develops awareness of how language testing and assessment have developed in educational and wider social contexts. It focusses on both purposes and processes of language testing and assessment, and critically examines applications in policy areas such as education, employability, migration, and citizenship. It examines the issues involved in making judgements about language proficiency for these purposes. It also explores the theoretical foundations for making judgements in different settings, and the skills required by both testers and test-takers. In this module, you will have opportunities to consider aspects of the role of English as a global language, issues of social justice and equality of opportunity, and the development of digital technologies in language testing and assessment.

Aims and Objectives

Learning Outcomes

Knowledge and Understanding

Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

the ways tests are constructed and administered
emerging issues in language testing and assessment
the purposes and traditions of language testing and assessment
validity and reliability aspects of language testing and assessment
the roles of assessment in education, work contexts, and migration and citizenship policies
the construct of communicative competence in language testing and assessment

Transferable and Generic Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

work effectively in a team
plan and organise your own learning schedule
prepare and deliver oral presentations

Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

develop a critique of language testing policies and models
identify social impacts of language testing processes
evaluate the quality of a given test or testing framework
use established and innovative strategies to evaluate tests and test frameworks

Learning and Teaching

Teaching and learning methods

A weekly lecture will provide an overview and a guide to the research and literature on for each topic. The weekly seminar will include a mix of practical tasks on tests and policy documents which reference tests (normally in the early weeks of the module) and student presentations (normally in the later weeks of the module).

Study time
Type	Hours
Wider reading or practice	20
Completion of assessment task	26
Revision	20
Preparation for scheduled sessions	60
Seminar	12
Lecture	12
Total study time	150

Resources & Reading list

General Resources

Utilizing Technology in Language Assessment. Chapelle C.A. & Voss E. (2017) Utilizing Technology in Language Assessment. In: Shohamy E., Or I., May S. (eds) Language Testing and Assessment. Encyclopedia of Language and Education (3rd ed.). Springer, Cham.

Textbooks

Extra, G., M. Spotti, P. Van Avermaet (2009). Language Testing, Migration and Citizenship - Cross-National Perspectives on Integration Regimes. London: Continuum.

Weir, C. & O’Sullivan, B. (2017). Assessing English on the Global Stage, The British Council and English Language Testing, 1941-2016. Sheffield: Equinox.

Shohamy, E. (2001). The power of tests: A critical perspective of the uses of language tests.. Harlow: Longman.

McNamara, T and Roever, C (2007) (2007). Language Testing: The Social Dimension. Blackwell.

Assessment

Summative

This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.

Breakdown
Method	Percentage contribution
Final project	100%

Referral

This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.

Breakdown
Method	Percentage contribution
Final project	100%

Repeat

An internal repeat is where you take all of your modules again, including any you passed. An external repeat is where you only re-take the modules you failed.

Breakdown
Method	Percentage contribution
Final project	100%

Repeat Information

Repeat type: Internal & External