Reconsidering Context in Language Assessment: Transdisciplinary Perspectives, Social Theories, and Validity

Description

This volume reconsiders the role of context in language testing and assessment by applying key social theories, including theories of genre, situated learning, intercultural communication, multimodality, and interaction, to language testing and assessment research and practice. While cognitive, measurement, and psychometric perspectives have largely informed existing language testing research and its understanding of context, this book offers an alternative, socio-theoretical perspective. The potential of social theories in reconsiderations of context is exemplified by research studies that address, for example, the diagnostic assessment of writing across genres, proficiency assessment in classroom and workplace settings, and multimodal communication. Taken as a whole, the book provides a reconceptualization of context in language testing and assessment, viewed through a socio-theoretical lens, and makes the case that such a perspective provides new insights and increased understanding. This volume will be essential reading for students and researchers in language testing and assessment, applied linguistics, curriculum studies, as well as practitioners in these same fields.