Provides a history of validation in language testing, discusses current approaches to validation in language testing (hypothesis about testing outcomes, relevant evidence for testing the hypothesis, developing a validity argument), and gives an overview of current challenges in language-test validation (defining the language construct to be…

Reviews studies and tests that show how discourse analysis has contributed to the theory, research, and development of language testing, covering the relations among discourse analysis and competence and testing theory; research on language tests and tasks; and task development. A 60-citation unannotated bibliography is included. (CB)

Discusses three research/testing interfaces in second-language (L2) testing: the covariance structure analysis of ex post facto correlational data, the qualitative investigation of test-taking processes, and the development of L2 assessment instruments based on developmental sequences in L2 acquisition. (61 references) (GLR)

Reviews recent trends in performance testing, focusing on different definitions of performance testing; the extent to which performance tests have drawn upon the theoretical discussions of competence and performance; research on performance tests; and future developmental and research questions. (66 references) (MDM)

Reviews developments in language testing research and practice over the last 20 years, and suggests future directions in the areas of professionalizing the field and validation research. Argues that concerns for ethical conduct must be grounded in valid test use, so that professionalization and validation research are inseparable. (Author/VWL)

A collection of essays on current issues in the field of second language proficiency assessment includes: "The Unassimilated History" (Pardee Lowe, Jr.), which chronicles the development of proficiency testing; "A Research Agenda" (John L. D. Clark and John Lett), a discussion of research considerations and needs in proficiency testing; "Issues…

Reviews recent theoretical, methodological, and analytical developments in language testing, focusing on more refined models of language ability, reliability and validity, performance testing, innovative test formats, new applications of Item Response Theory and Generalizability Theory to test performance. An annotated bibliography discusses seven…

This paper discusses recent developments in language testing. It begins with a review of the traditional criteria that are applied to all measurement and outlines recent emphases that derive from the expanding range of stakeholders. Drawing on Alderson's seminal work, criteria are presented for evaluating communicative language tests. Developments…

A discussion of language testing looks at the relationship between the processes of language learning and language testing, particularly from the point of view of pragmatics theory. It outlines some of the theory of Charles Sanders Pierce and its role in the evolution of linguistic theory, as well as the work of other theorists concerning the…