Shohamy, Elana. The power of tests: A critical perspective on the uses of language tests (original) (raw)
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The Sociopolitics of English Language Testing
2020
Although language assessment and testing studies have fundamentally deepened our knowledge of the importance of various aspects of test development (e.g. test design, test use), part of the research agenda in this area has focused on the sociopolitical underpinnings of test situations and ontological musings surrounding assessment contexts and purposes (e.g. Hall and Wicaksono, 2020; Kunnan, 2005). With these considerations in mind, The Sociopolitics of English Language Testing represents a meaningful contribution to our existing understanding of "critical" issues surrounding testing theories and processes, including ideology, diversity, dominance, and hegemony. This publication not only explores the social considerations of testing theories and practices but also examines a number of issues that language assessment professionals, policymakers, applied linguists, and language teachers can find informative in their professional practice. It foregrounds a sociopolitically "context-sensitive" understanding of language assessment as an orientation to language tests (high-stakes tests). Addressing diverse marginalized assessment practices from different world locations (e.g. the USA, the UK, Japan, Nepal), Mirhosseini and De Costa's two-part volume consists of 11 chapters. The Foreword by Winke outlines several steps for improving the sociopolitics of language testing: (a) inclusion of various stakeholder groups, (b) involvement of linguistic and cultural minority communities, and (c) deployment of different perspectives (e.g. alternative forms of testing such as portfolios), which bring new questions and insights into how we approach sociopolitical phenomena in a more context-specific way. Part 1 (Chapters 1-5) discusses the ideology of language tests in different Englishspeaking countries. The themes that emerge relate to the function of tests in enacting neoliberal ideology and reconstructing students' subjectivities and experiences (Chapter 1 by Yandell et al., p. 3), exclusion of indigenous communities in assessment practices (Chapter 2 by Freeman and Wigglesworth), dominance of English in the assessment of bi-and multilingual students and reality of raciolinguistic categories (Chapter 3 by Poza and Shannon), language testing in service-learning pedagogies (Chapter 4 by Avineri and Perren), and a lack of test validity for language-minoritized bilinguals (Chapter 5 by 941955R EL0010.
Politics of Testing and Assessment
The TESOL Encyclopedia of English Language Teaching, 2018
Given the major role that the assessment of English as foreign language (EFL) and English as second language (ESL) plays in the educational experiences and lives of students around the world, TESOL practitioners and theoreticians have no choice but to ensure that assessment is solid, reliable, and unquestionable. To guarantee the quality of assessment procedures, TESOL professionals have for long relied on the tools, language, and techniques of the scientific approach to research. At their disposal are mechanisms, procedures, and terminology that have been employed for decades, in an attempt to guarantee the validity, reliability, and above all the neutrality of the assessment procedures that measure students' linguistic proficiency (Brown, 1996). Driven by the discourses of accountability, efficiency, objectivity, and accuracy, the field of language assessment has succeeded to a large extent in establishing a discourse of unquestioned credibility at theoretical and practical levels (Brown & Hudson, 1998). Internationally renowned high-stakes language tests such as the TOEFL, IELTS, or the Michigan tests have long surpassed their original function of language-proficiency tests and serve as gatekeepers at established educational institutions around the world, which deploy several activities such as research, training of testers, marketization, and publication. Moreover, the content of these tests has influenced the curricular goals and the content of many language-preparation programs, as students have to take them for entry and exit purposes. While originally the tests were solely for testing the language proficiency of prospective students and their suitability for a university in the United States or Britain, this use has now been expanded to cover multiple educational, employment, and even immigration purposes. The dominance of the scientific approach to testing and the power of the major standardized tests have not stopped theoreticians and practitioners from questioning this power and the assumed neutrality, objectivity, and fairness of the tests (Shohamy, 2001; Au, 2009; Kunan, 2010). The use of the phrase "politics of assessment" implies that assessment in general and language assessment in particular are informed by such factors as ideologies, political and economic agendas, educational considerations, societal elements, AQ1
Palgrave Macmillan , 2016
Karl Marx suggested that people “make their own history, but they do not make it just as they please …, but under circumstances directly encountered, given and transmitted from the past.”1 With this in mind, history is not merely impacted by a perpetual push and pull but rather it is forged by it; through struggle, through controversy, and through dispute (over ideas, over survival, over competitive advantage, etc). To understand our own time, the early twenty-first century, is to recognize that we are simultaneously producers of history on the one hand, and that we are produced by history on the other. Among the most important communal human systems is government, which, for a variety of reasons, often tends to reflect the values of only a small minority. In the United States and Canada, governments at various levels are responsible for systems thar organize much of our social and cultural existence: these range from schools, to transportation, to international and military relations (determining which wars and humanitarian efforts we do or do not engage in), to our access to health care. In addition to systems that are actually run by the state, governments regulate access to food, beverages, and drugs; commercial transactions; travel; and in most places, our sexual behavior.
The Power of Powerless Language Tests: Test Takers' perceptions Author
On a macro level, tests have long served to push the agendas of the powerful: politicians, bureaucrats, policymakers, educational authorities, etc. Language Tests can go so far as to establish de facto models of language proficiency in societies (Pishghadam and Kermanshahi, 2012). High stakes tests have marginalized classroom achievement tests in research circles, leaving power relationships and classroom assessments an uncharted territory.This paper constitutes an attempt to see, from learners’ perspectives, the extent to whichELT teachers exploit tests’ power for maintaining dominance and authority. To this end, a scale was developed ,validated through factor analysis, and administered to English major students. Results showed that students across different institutions, genders, and proficiency levels find language achievement tests powerful means of control and domination. The validity of assessment practices was then examined through a set of interpretive authenticity criteria.
In this essay I will be examining the origins of high stakes testing in the United States, its widespread use in the educational system, the rise of test driven “reforms” and the damage brought on by test overuse. Test-scores have not only become the central focus of economic and educational reforms, high stakes test scores are also being using as performance metrics requiring virtually all students and teachers to proficient levels, determining whether the schools are making “adequate yearly progress” and using these scores to impose severe sanctions on those who fail to meet the required standards. I will also be examining the impact of standardized high stakes testing on the education system and the resulting negative effects arising from its misuse: impeding student learning, demoralizing teachers, undermining schools and exacerbating racial and ethnic inequalities and social stratification. In order to gain an international perspective on the significance of standardized testing as a measure of students’ progress and development, I shall be comparing the testing cultures around the globe. Finally, I will propose a set of alternative methods of assessment and explain how they can be applied in place of standardized tests as a more effective and accurate assessment of student performance.
The Power of Tests: The Impact of Language Tests on Teaching and Learning. NFLC Occasional Papers
1993
This ls one in a series of Occasional Papers published by the National Foreign Language Center. The NFLC prints and distributes articles on a wide variety of topics related to foreign language research, education, and policy. The Occasional Papers are intended to serve as a vehicle of communication and a stimulant for discussion among groups concerned with these topic areas. The views expressed in these papers are the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the NFLC or of the Johns Hopkins University.
Testing in the Nation's Schools: Collected Papers. Research Into Practice Project
1983
The Center for the Study of Evaluation, of the Graduate School of Education at the University' of California at Los Angeles (CSE) hosted a two day conference on "Paths to Excellence: Testing and Technology" on July 14-15, 1983. Attended by over 100 =educational researchers, \practitioners, and-policymakers, the first day of the conference focused on issues in educational testing; day. two explored the status and future of technology in schools. This docuMent presents the collected papers from the first day of the conference. Presentations focused on CSE's study of teachers' and principals' use of achievement testing in the nation's schools. The study provided ba.sic data about'the nature and frequency of classroom testing, the purposes:for which test results are used-, principals' and teachers' attitudes toward testing, and local contexts supporting the use fof tests (e.g., amount cf staff development, testing resources, leadership support). The findings were presented ate he c,Onference, and presenters were asked to provide thein interpretations of the data and their perspectives on their implications for national, state, and/or local testing policies. One speaker, William Coffman,' was asked to provide context for the conference"by considering the study in the light of the history of research on educational testing. (PN)