Chapter OneTheoretical Concerns in Language Testing
1.1 Approaches to Language Testing
The view of language and language use embodied in the test plays a crucial role intest design and test score interpretation. Different views about what knowledge oflanguage is composed of and how that knowledge is deployed in actual performanceare the foundation of different approaches to language testing. They not onlydetermine “what” to test, or the test construct- the aspects of knowledge or skillpossessed by the examinee which are being tested, but also influence “ how” to testand the method adopted. The structuralist approach in the period of psychometric-structuralist testing isbased on American structural linguistics (Baker, 1989). As Lado (1961) maintains, thestructuralist approach to language testing is characterized by the view that language isa formal system to be mastered. Language tests of this sort attempt to evaluateexaminees’ knowledge of the language as a system. Thus, the discrete point testmethod is used, which is reflected in the propensity to atomize and decontextualizeaspects of knowledge to be tested. Each item samples a particular element presentedin an isolated sentence through the use of one skill. Statistical arguments areemphasized and the question of validity is in many cases hardly touched upon. Theevaluation of test performance stresses objectivity and reliability.
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1.2 Test Validation
The primary concern in test development and use is to demonstrate not only thattest scores are reliable, but that the interpretations and uses we make of test scores arevalid.Validity is traditionally classified into different types, such as content, criterion,and construct validity. Nonetheless, measurement specialists have viewed these asaspects of a unitary concept of validity that subsumes all of them. Messick (1989), forinstance, explains validity as “an integrated evaluative judgment of the degree towhich empirical evidence and theoretical rationales support the adequacy andappropriateness of inferences and actions based on test scores.”(Messick, 1989:105). Although traditional discussion of validity has been delivered in terms ofdifferent types, as is pointed out above, psychometricians have increasingly come toview it as a single, unitary concept. Messick (1980, 1988) has maintained that evenregarding different approaches to validation as separate lines of evidence forsupporting given score interpretations is inadequate, and that the consideration ofvalues and consequences of score use has an essential role in validity considerations.Thus, he proposed a unified framework of validity.
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Chapter Two Basic Considerations for Reading Assessment
2.1 The Nature of Reading
Over the years, many researchers have been attempting to develop theories ofreading. Although the debate about the definition of reading started centuries ago, ithas continued up to now and still remains open. No unanimous agreement has beenreached relating to the nature of reading. Nonetheless, to the best of our knowledge,the most popular view nowadays can be attributed to Weir (1993:64): Reading is aselective process taking place between the reader and the text, in which backgroundand various types of language knowledge interact with information in the text tocontribute to text comprehension. Reading comprehension is thought to rely upon t，英语论文范文，英语论文范文
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