This volume, written by distinguished scholars, researchers and practitioners in the field of language testing and assessment, includes selected papers presented at the 1st International Conference of Language Testing and Assessment (ICLTA). It is dedicated to the memory of Pavlos Pavlou, esteemed faculty member at the University of Cyprus.
The need for reliable and valid assessments of translator and interpreter skills has been widely acknowledged inside and outside these professions and the (language) testing community. Despite this agreement, the actual assessments which serve as gatekeepers for professional translators and interpreters do not always live up to the expectations. The focus of the volume is on the assessment of translator and interpreter skills leading to authorization, accreditation, registration and certification in different countries of the world. Apart from the description of the different assessment systems, the chapters shed light on the intricate social, political and financial issues influencing the choices that lead to a specific kind of assessment.
The Guidelines for Good Practice of the European Association for Language Testing and Assessment (EALTA) stress the importance of collaboration between all parties involved in the process of developing instruments, activities and programmes for testing and assessment. Collaboration is considered to be as important as validity and reliability, providing a crucial prerequisite for responsibility and respect for students. The papers, covering a range of topics that consider both realities and prospects of collaboration, were originally presented at EALTA conferences from 2008 to 2010.
While research into aspects of standardised language tests is growing, the area of classroom-based language assessment (CBLA) is still not well-defined and relatively under-researched. Studies investigating CBLA practices within the ESL/EFL school contexts as well as the tertiary level have stressed the need for further research as the picture is not yet complete. The volume aims to address this challenge by presenting a wide scope of research interests that discuss theoretical and practical underpinnings of CBLA. It is also meant to promote the notion of CBLA for a wide membership of the language teaching and testing community covering topics that consider both realities and prospects of CBLA in the assessment world.
It has long been noted that high-stakes language exams exert a powerful influence on teaching and learning, a phenomenon known as the washback effect (Alderson and Wall, 1993). However, due to the complex nature of the phenomenon, little research has been conducted in the field so far. This book, which is based on empirical research into the washback effect of First Certificate in English (FCE, Cambridge ESOL), discusses and elaborates on the complexity of the phenomenon and accounts for the intervening factors that mediate the process of test washback. The book concludes with the presentation of a model that demonstrates how the mechanism of washback operates and with recommendations to a variety of stakeholders for achieving beneficial washback.