Revisiting the Assessment of Second Language Abilities: From Theory to Practice

This book presents an overview of revisiting the assessment of language abilities. It also showcases how the measurement of such constructs can result in negative or positive washback and how outcomes might be conducive to repercussions that decide on the future of many stakeholders. The 23 chapters were selected among tens of chapters received from different contexts that addressed the issue of revisiting the assessment of language abilities, such as Tunisia, Ukraine, Algeria, Russia, KSA, Sudan, Egypt, Canada, Kurdistan, UK, USA, Iran, Turkey, etc. These contexts have highlighted the necessity to revisit the different constructs which should be assessed with a clear and straightforward foundation on students’ learning objectives and their actual language ability. To do so, most of the chapters present hands-on use of relevant statistical tests that might serve in revisiting the construct definition both theoretically and operationally. Perhaps the sole and intricate question that the authors of these contributions ask is what it means to revisit the assessment of the construct of individualized language ability and how. In addition, the book accentuates the momentousness and significance of reflecting on test fairness and validation as the mainspring and backbone for democratization of assessment. This book appeals to a broad readership, such as English Language Teaching (ELT) practitioners, language teachers, students, testing organizations, policy-makers, test designers, writers of test specifications, testing experts, researchers, program evaluators, especially in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) as well as other international contexts.

Part I: Assessing Speaking.- Ch. 1: Assessing Spoken Language Ability: A Many-Facet Rasch Analysis (Sahbi Hidri).- Ch.2: Investigating the Use of an EBB Scale for the Assessment of English Language Spoken Proficiency (Stefan O’grady).- Ch.3: The Measurement of Language Ability and Impairment in Arabic-speaking Children (Areej Balilah and Lisa Archibald).- Ch. 4: Developing a Formative Assessment Instrument for an In-Service Speaking Course (Rezvan Rashidi Pourfard).- Part II: Assessing Writing.- Ch. 5: Does the Feedback Feed Forward? Student Response to and Views of Teacher Feedback in an EFL Academic Writing class (Eddy White).- Ch.6: Designing and Rating Academic Writing Tests: Implications for Test Specifications (Amani Mejri).- Part III: Assessing English for Specific Purposes.- Ch. 7: Academic Writing Needs Assessment: A Case Study of MPH Students, University of Khartoum (Abuelgasim Sabah Elsaid Mohammed).- Ch. 8: Teachers’ Conceptions of Assessment in an ESP Context (Yosra Naimi).- Part IV: Assessing Translation and Literature.- Ch. 9: Assessing Textual Competence in Translation into a Second Language (Tamara Kavytska and Olga Kvasova).- Ch. 10: Assessing Literature for the Classroom among Female Learners of English in an EFL Context in Saudi Arabia (Manal Qutub).- Part V: Assessing Reading, Vocabulary and Grammar.- Ch. 11: Assessing Two Strategies of Vocabulary Learning (Manal Sabbah).- Ch. 12: Testing Usefulness of Reading Comprehension Exams among First Year Students of English at the Tertiary Level in Tunisia (Yassmine Mattoussi).- Ch. 13: Techniques in Teaching and Testing Vocabulary for Learners of English in an EFL Context (Imen Riahi).- Ch 14: Testing Grammar in an EFL Context (Yasmine Chniti).- Part VI: Assessment Literacy and Test Fairness.- Ch.15: Continuous Cumulative Assessment in Higher Education: Coming to grips with Test Enhanced Learning (Katerina Popkova).- Ch 16: Developing Student Teachers’ Classroom Assessment Literacy: The Ukrainian Context (Olga Ukrayinska).- Ch 17: Valid for the Elites? The Trade-off between Test Fairness and Test Validity (Kioumars Razavipour).- Ch 18: Student-Related Challenges of Performing Alternative Assessments from the Perspective of Kurdish Tertiary TESOL Teachers (Dler Abdullah Ismael).- Part VII: Standard Exams and Test-Taking Strategies.- Ch 19: Washback on Language Skills: A Study of EFL Multi-Exam Preparation Classes (Irini Papakamenou).- Ch. 20: Extending the Scope of the English Exit Exam: A Study from a Ukrainian Classical University (Olesia Liubashenko and Olga Yashenkova).- Part VIII: Alternative Forms of Assessment.- Ch. 21: Performance-Based Assessment: A Shift towards an Assessment for Learning Culture (Zineb Djoub).- Ch. 22: Utilizing Dynamic Assessment to Activate EFL Inert Grammar (Mahmoud Ibrahim).- Ch. 23: Analyzing the Impact of Formal Assessments on EFL Learner’s Use of Language Learning Strategies (Misbah Rosheen Khan and Misbah Afsheen Khan).