Language Testing
The Social Dimension
Language Learning Monograph
1. Edition April 2007
312 Pages, Softcover
Wiley & Sons Ltd
Winner of the SAGE/ILTA Award for Best Book on Language
Testing 2009
This volume focuses on the social aspects of language testing,
including assessment of socially situated language use and societal
consequences of language tests. The authors argue that traditional
approaches to ensuring social fairness in tests go some way to
addressing social concerns, but a broader perspective is necessary
to examine the functions of tests on a societal scale.
* Considers these issues in relation to language assessment in
oral proficiency interviews, and to the assessment of second
language pragmatics.
* Argues that traditional approaches to ensuring social fairness
in tests go some way to addressing social concerns, but a broader
perspective is necessary if we are to fully understand the social
dimension of language assessment.
Acknowledgements xv
Chapter 1 Introduction 1
Chapter 2 Validity and Social Dimension of Language Testing 9
Chapter 3 The Social Dimension of Proficiency: How Testable Is It? 43
Chapter 4 Psychometric Approaches to Fairness Bias and DIF 81
Chapter 5 Fairness Reviews and Codes of Ethics 129
Chapter 6 Language Tests and Social Identity 149
Chapter 7 Language Assessments at School: Social Values and Policy 203
Chapter 8 Where to From Here? Implications of Research and Training 247
References 257
Index 285
opening up a dialog on the social and political consequences of
language testing." (Language Teaching, Jan 2009)
"This book ... offers a unique perspective [and] has
enormous potential to assist anyone wishing to broaden their
understanding of language testing." (TESL-EJ.org)
"McNamara and Roever have done a fine job, and have produced an
important and much needed book." (Journal of Multilingual and
Multicultural Development)
"McNamara and Roever's approach to the consequential and
social aspects of language testing impressed the awards committee
for its originality, breadth of coverage, scholarship, and
potential for impact both within and beyond the immediate field of
language testing. The authors' examination of test design and
validation compares, contrasts, and evaluates the more traditional
ways of conceptualizing the social aspects of language testing with
a number of contemporary methods. McNamara and Roever's
ability to connect these methods results in a timely and
comprehensive text expected to influence the field for many years
to come." (The 2009 Sage/ITLA Award Committee)
University of Melbourne, where he gained his Ph.D. in Applied
Linguistics, and where he helped establish the Language Testing
Research Centre, of which he was subsequently Director. His
research interests include language testing, language teaching, and
language and identity. His recent work has focused on the relevance
of contemporary social theory to concerns in language assessment
and other areas of applied linguistics, including the role of
language tests in the processing of the claims of asylum seekers
and in citizenship procedures. He is the author of Language
Testing (2000) and has published widely in applied linguistics
journals.
Carsten Roever is a Lecturer in Applied Linguistics at
the University of Melbourne. He has a Ph.D. in Second Language
Studies from the University of Hawai'i at Manoa. His main
research interest is the assessment of second language pragmatics.
Some of his favorite topics are acquisition of pragmatic knowledge,
second language aptitude, web-based language testing, and research
design. He has published in Language Testing, Language
Learning & Technology, and various edited collections.
