This study employed Bachman and Palmer's (2010) Assessment Use Argument framework to investigate to what extent the use of a second language oral test as an exit test in a Hong Kong university can be justified. It also aimed to help test developers of this oral test identify the most critical areas in the current test design that might need…

A review of relevant research reveals the general characteristics of a test of oral communication performance, some specific characteristics of testing programs, and some directions that future performance testing should take. Characteristics of tests of oral communication performance are as follows: (1) students should be able to apply the skills…

The aim of this study is to explore the possibility of creating positive washback by focusing on factors in the background of the test development process and anticipating the conditions most likely to lead to positive wash-back. The article reports on a multiphase empirical study investigating the washback effects of a needs-based test of spoken…

The oral interaction examination used by Britain's Royal Society of Arts for testing communicative use of English as a foreign language is described. The underlying principles of the test, its structure, administration, issues of reliability and validity, and scoring are outlined. Three components of the test itself are included. One component is…

The book is designed to help language teachers write better tests, taking the view that test construction is an exercise in problem-solving, with every teaching situation presenting a different problem that an understanding of the underlying principles of testing can help solve. Examples are given from testing of English as a Second Language…

The IDEA Oral Language Proficiency Test (IPT-I), forms C and D, aims to determine the level of English oral language proficiency as it relates to accepted levels of NonEnglish speaking (NES), limited English speaking (LES), and fluent English speaking (FES) designations in order to place students in an appropriate classroom setting. The test was…

The oral communication course for English majors at the National University of Malaysia includes testing designed by faculty and coordinated with the curriculum. This practice is based on the ideas that a teacher who has been actively involved in curriculum design is in a good position to design a test for that curriculum, and that teacher-made…

Papers on second language testing in Japan include: "Differences Between Norm-Referenced and Criterion-Referenced Tests" (James Dean Brown); "Criterion-Referenced Test Construction and Evaluation" (Dale T. Griffe); "Behavioral Learning Objectives as an Evaluation Tool" (Judith A. Johnson); "Developing Norm-…

Papers from the 1997 and 1998 Current Trends in English Language Testing (CTELT) conferences include: "Computer-Based Language Testing: The Call of the Internet" (G. Fulcher); "Uses of the PET (Preliminary English Test) at Sultan Qaboos University" (R. Taylor); "Issues in Foreign and Second Language Academic Listening…