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Showing 1 to 15 of 18 results Save | Export
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Sato, Takanori; McNamara, Tim – Applied Linguistics, 2019
Applied linguists have developed complex theories of the ability to communicate in a second language (L2). However, the perspectives on L2 communication ability of speakers who are not trained language professionals have been incorporated neither into theories of communication ability nor in the criteria for assessing performance on…
Descriptors: Second Language Learning, Oral Language, Applied Linguistics, Linguistic Theory
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Pill, John; McNamara, Tim – Language Testing, 2016
This paper considers how to establish the minimum required level of professionally relevant oral communication ability in the medium of English for health practitioners with English as an additional language (EAL) to gain admission to practice in jurisdictions where English is the dominant language. A theoretical concern is the construct of…
Descriptors: Specialists, Standard Setting, Language Tests, English (Second Language)
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Hill, Kathryn; McNamara, Tim – Measurement: Interdisciplinary Research and Perspectives, 2015
Those who work in second- and foreign-language testing often find Koretz's concern for validity inferences under high-stakes (VIHS) conditions both welcome and familiar. While the focus of the article is more narrowly on the potential for two instructional responses to test-based accountability, "reallocation" and "coaching,"…
Descriptors: Language Tests, Test Validity, High Stakes Tests, Inferences
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McNamara, Tim; Morton, Janne; Storch, Neomy; Thompson, Celia – Language Assessment Quarterly, 2018
This article addresses the suitability of the CEFR as the basis for decisions about the readiness of individuals to engage in academic writing tasks in undergraduate university courses, and as a guide to progress. The CEFR offers potentially relevant general scales and subscales, but also more specific subscales for writing in the academic…
Descriptors: Guidelines, Undergraduate Students, Foreign Countries, Academic Discourse
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McNamara, Tim; Hill, Kathryn – Measurement: Interdisciplinary Research and Perspectives, 2012
The suggested role for assessment in developing "Roadmaps for Learning" has potentially important implications for the learning of second or foreign languages in school, a major concern of applied linguistics. In this response, the authors consider how the findings of a detailed ethnographic study of classroom-based assessment in two…
Descriptors: Language Tests, Second Language Learning, Indonesian, Student Evaluation
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McNamara, Tim – Language Teaching, 2011
A feature of language assessment internationally is its role in the enforcement of language policies established by governments and other educational and cultural agencies. This trend has led to the near-universal adoption of curriculum and assessment frameworks, the clearest example of which is the Common European Framework of Reference for…
Descriptors: English (Second Language), Second Language Learning, Guidelines, Language Tests
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Hill, Kathryn; McNamara, Tim – Language Testing, 2012
This paper presents a comprehensive framework for researching classroom-based assessment (CBA) processes, and is based on a detailed empirical study of two Australian school classrooms where students aged 11 to 13 were studying Indonesian as a foreign language. The framework can be considered innovative in several respects. It goes beyond the…
Descriptors: Student Evaluation, Second Language Learning, Classroom Environment, Literacy
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McNamara, Tim; Ryan, Kerry – Language Assessment Quarterly, 2011
This article proposes a distinction between "fairness" and "justice" in relation to language tests. Basing its discussion on the validity theory of Samuel Messick, it discusses the way in which these terms have been used in the existing literature, and their relationship to the concept of validity. Fairness, broadly speaking,…
Descriptors: Language Usage, Citizenship, Language Tests, Validity
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Elder, Cathie; Pill, John; Woodward-Kron, Robyn; McNamara, Tim; Manias, Elizabeth; Webb, Gillian; McColl, Geoff – TESOL Quarterly: A Journal for Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages and of Standard English as a Second Dialect, 2012
The gap between linguistic and professional criteria is a widely acknowledged but unresolved issue in the teaching and assessment of languages for specific purposes (LSP). In the teaching of professional writing, language experts and workplace professionals have been characterized as living worlds apart with respect to their views of…
Descriptors: Language Tests, Health Occupations, Linguistics, Feedback (Response)
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McNamara, Tim – Modern Language Journal, 2011
Discussions of multilingualism in education, as exemplified by the articles in this issue, can be critically reevaluated using perspectives available from poststructuralism. These perspectives focus on the potential ambiguity of language and language practices. This, in turn, encourages us to question simple notions of the relationship of learners…
Descriptors: Criticism, Figurative Language, Language Tests, Multilingualism
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Iwashita, Noriko; Brown, Annie; McNamara, Tim; O'Hagan, Sally – Applied Linguistics, 2008
The study reported in this paper is an investigation of the nature of speaking proficiency in English as a second language in the context of a larger project to develop a rating scale for a new international test of English for Academic Purposes, TOEFL iBT (Brown et al. 2005). We report on a large-scale study of the relationship between detailed…
Descriptors: Second Language Learning, Oral Language, Language Tests, Rating Scales
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McNamara, Tim – Language Assessment Quarterly, 2009
In its late colonial history and early years as an independent nation, Australia practised a policy of ruthless exclusion of immigrants on the basis of race by means of a language test: the notorious Dictation Test. In the 50 years following World War II, Australia adopted policies encouraging immigration with bipartisan political support.…
Descriptors: Verbal Communication, War, Language Tests, Language Role
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McNamara, Tim – Language Testing, 2001
Argues that a growing awareness of the fundamentally social character of language assessment challenges a rethinking of priorities and responsibilities in language testing research. This awareness is the result of the treatment of the social character of educational assessment in Messick's (1989) work on validity and by actual changes triggered by…
Descriptors: Classroom Environment, Evaluation Methods, Language Tests, Postmodernism
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McNamara, Tim – Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 1998
A review of literature on language testing focuses on new testing issues beyond the traditional concerns of validity theory, including incorporation of social values into tests, ethics of testing, test impact, including washback, and the political character of language tests. Critical language testing, the activity of contextualizing tests in…
Descriptors: Cultural Context, Educational Policy, Ethics, Language Tests
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Iwashita, Noriko; McNamara, Tim; Elder, Catherine – Language Learning, 2001
Addresses the question of whether there are different characteristics and language performance conditions (involving assumed different levels of cognitive demand) associated with different levels of fluency, complexity, or accuracy in test candidate responses. Participants were pre-university students taking English courses. (Author/VWL)
Descriptors: Difficulty Level, English (Second Language), Language Proficiency, Language Tests
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