In this invited Viewpoint on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the journal "Language Testing," I argue that at the core of future challenges and opportunities for the field--both in scholarly and operational respects--remain basic questions and principles in language testing and assessment. Despite the high levels of sophistication…

J.D. Brown (JD) served as the author of an instructional column titled "Statistics Corner" in the "Shiken": JALT "Testing & Evaluation SIG Newsletter" for an extensive period spanning over two decades, from 1997 to 2019. This publication was under the auspices of the Testing and Evaluation Special Interest Group,…

In this contribution, I argue for a radical reappraisal of accepted ideas about how English is taught and tested. I am not alone in questioning the validity of the current orthodoxy. Others have expressed views that correspond or are consistent with the points I make here. What I have sought to do is to synthesize them in the formulation of a…

The sheer scale of the IELTS [International English Language Testing System] testing infrastructure and its unique position in the world of international education dictated some of the particular challenges that the IELTS Partners (British Council, IDP Education and Cambridge Assessment English) faced after the closure of test centres during the…

From uneven digital access and growing academic gaps to reports of students missing or disengaged since March 2020, it is evident that English Learners (ELs) have endured some of the pandemic's gravest impacts on students across the United States. But because the pandemic has affected state assessment systems as well as instruction, it is…

It has been argued in the literature on (language) testing that any act of testing/assessment can impact: (1) educators' curriculum design; (2) teachers' teaching practices; and (3) students' learning behaviors. This quality of any given testing situation or act of assessment has been called washback, or backwash if you will. Washback falls into…

The field of language testing has made great strides in measuring language use. It is a monolingual construct, however, that anchors standardized language testing operations and classroom practices. Language use and performance research, see for example the MLJ special issue of 2011, demands that language testing operations also consider…

Administration of high-stakes language proficiency tests has been disrupted in many parts of the world as a result of the 2019 novel coronavirus pandemic. Institutions that rely on test scores have been forced to adapt, and in many cases this means using scores from a different test, or a new online version of an existing test, that can be taken…

The number of individuals undertaking IELTS has continued to grow in recent years, standing at approximately 3 million candidates per year in 2016. As a result, this high-stakes, high-pressure test has become firmly entrenched as a global gatekeeping institution, regulating the international flows of people for migration and academic study. This…

The paper reports on trends in language testing taking place over the years and aim at critical perspectives of testing and promoting inclusion, equity and justice. It begins with critical theories by Messick, Foucault and Bourdieu, leading to critical language testing (CLT) which focused on consequences and uses of tests. Given the power of tests…

This article presents a critical review of the Texas English Language Proficiency Assessment System (TELPAS), a large scale standardized English language proficiency (ELP) assessment developed by the Texas Education Agency (TEA) and administered since 2004. TELPAS is used as an annual summative assessment for all English Learners (ELs) in grades…

Celpe-Bras, is the exam for the certification of proficiency in Portuguese as a foreign language. It, is the only Portuguese proficiency test recognized by the Brazilian government (Ministério da Educação, 2013). Given the recent growth of interest and also its unique design as a large-scale proficiency test, this article provides a general…

The Test of German as a Foreign Language (TestDaF) plays a critical role as a standardized test of German language proficiency. Developed and administered by the Society for Academic Study Preparation and Test Development (g.a.s.t.), TestDaF was launched in 2001 and has experienced persistent annual growth, with more than 44,000 test takers in…

Word Associates Format (WAF) tests are often used to measure second language learners' vocabulary depth with a focus on their network knowledge. Yet, there were often many variations in the specific forms of the tests and the ways they were used, which tended to have an impact on learners' response behaviors and, more importantly, the psychometric…

This paper will deal, firstly, with the South African context, that cries out for attention to responsible language assessment. The renewed interest in language testing in South Africa is well illustrated in assessments of language ability for educational purposes generally, and more specifically in the assessment of academic literacy. Secondly,…