Michael Milanovic - Böcker

Continuity and Innovation: Revising the Cambridge Proficiency in English Examination 1913-2002. This volume documents in some detail the most recent revision of the Certificate in Proficiency in English (CPE) which took place from 1991 to 2002. CPE is the oldest of the Cambridge suite of English as Foreign Language (EFL) examinations and was originally introduced in 1913. Since that time it has been regularly revised and updated to bring it into line with current thinking in language teaching, Applied Linguistics and language testing theory and practice. Authors: Cyril Weir, Nick Saville, Mick Ashton, Beth Weighill, Nick Barratt, Rod Boroughs, Angela French.

Documents the development of the Cambridge ESOL Certificates in English Language Skills (CELS), a suite of modular examinations first offered in 2002. As a context for how CELS was conceived, developed, constructed, validated and managed, the book traces the history of exams which have influenced CELS. The Royal Society of Arts (RSA), later UCLES (University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate) Communicative Use of English as a Foreign Language examinations (CUEFL) was one such influence, as were the Certificates in Communication Skills in English (CCSE), these exams being a development of the CUEFL. The University of Oxford Delegacy of Local Examinations (UODLE) examinations, taken over by UCLES in 1995, were a further influence on CELS. UODLE itself had worked in partnership with the Association of Recognised Language Schools (ARELS) Examinations Trust, the Oxford EFL reading and writing exams for many years offered in tandem with the ARELS Oral English exams.

This volume introduces a new concept, 'criterial features', for the learning, teaching and testing of English as a second language. The work is based on research conducted within the English Profile Programme at Cambridge University, using the Cambridge Learner Corpus. The authors address the extent to which learners know the grammar, lexicon and usage conventions of English at each level of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR). These levels are currently illustrated in functional terms with 'Can Do' statements. Greater specificity and precision can be achieved by using the tagged and parsed corpus, which enables researchers to identify criterial features of the CEFR levels, i.e. properties that are characteristic and indicative of L2 proficiency at each level. In practical terms, once criterial features have been identified, the grammatical and lexical properties of English can be presented to learners more efficiently and in ways that are appropriate to their levels.

The English Profile Programme is an elaboration of the performance level descriptions of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) that is concerned specifically with the English language. The CEFR has become influential in building a shared understanding of performance levels for foreign language learners. However, there is a considerable gap between the broad descriptions of levels provided, which covers a range of languages and learning contexts, and the level of detail required for applications such as syllabus or test design, which this volume addresses. With its combination of theoretical insights and practical advice, this is a useful work for academics, policy-makers, curriculum designers, textbook writers, postgraduate students and examination board staff.

This volume contains a selection of research papers that were presented at the 15th Annual Language Testing Research Colloquium (LTRC) on the themes of performance testing, and on aspects of communication in relation to cognition and assessment. This edited collection includes contributions reporting research into the testing of speaking and writing, especially in relation to raters, tasks and assessment criteria, contributions exploring the application of various statistical methods in langauge test validation and contributions addressing the issues relating to langauge testing in specific contexts with particular candidate groups. This volume will be of relevance to language testing specialists concerned with the design, development, delivery and validation of performance tests, as well as to academic researchers and graduate students interested in the complex relationship between cognition and assessment.

This book investigates the influence of test taker characteristics on performance in tests of English as a foreign language by exploring the relationships between these two groups of variables. Data from a test taker questionnaire and performance on the First Certificate in English (FCE) and the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) were used for the study. The research was conducted in a construct validation context and aimed to increase our understanding of the individual differences among test takers that influence their test performance. The application of a structural modeling approach to investigate the influence of test taker characteristics on test performance makes this study a valuable contribution to language testing research. As such, it will be of considerable relevance to academic researchers and graduate students in the field of language testing and assessment, as well as to others interested in second language acquisition and learning.

It is widely believed that one of the most effective ways of creating change in an education system is by introducing or by re-designing high-stakes examinations. This method is not foolproof, however, as there are many factors which can affect the impact of such an innovation. This study analyses the effects of an examination which was meant to serve as a 'lever for change'. It illustrates how the intended outcome was altered by factors in the exam itself, as well as characteristics of the educational setting, the teachers and the learners. Included are reviews of the literature of examination impact and innovation in education, and guidelines for the consideration of educators who continue to believe in the potential of examinations to effect curriculum change.

This book studies the effect of background knowledge on reading comprehension and investigates the claim from the field of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) that tertiary level students for whom English is a second language should be given reading proficiency tests in their own academic subject areas. The volume includes a comprehensive overview of recent research into reading, in both a first and second language, an account of the development of the reading subtests for IELTS, a full description of the pilot and main phases of the empirical study, a discussion of the relative importance of language proficiency and background knowledge in reading comprehension, consideration of the study's implications for future test construction and research into reading.

Verbal protocol analysis (VPA) is a methodology that is being used extensively by researchers. Recently, individuals working in the area of testing, and in language testing in particular, have begun to appreciate the roles VPA might play in the development and evaluation of assessment instruments. VPA is a complex methodology however, and individuals choosing to use the technique require some degree of training in order to maximize the benefits in adopting this approach, and in order to avoid some of the more common misunderstandings and pitfalls associated with the use of verbal data. Usiing Verbal Protocols in Language Test Validation aims to provide potential practitioners with the background to the technique and a good understanding of what is entailed in using VPA in the specific context of language testing and assessment. Tutorial exercises are presented which enable the reader to try out each of the different steps involved in VPA.

Fairness of language tests and testing practices has always been a concern among test developers and test users. In the past decade educational and language assessment researchers have begun to focus directly on fairness and related matters such as test standards, test bias and equity and ethics for testing professionals. The 19th annual Language Testing Research Colloquium held in 1997 in Orlando, Florida, brought this overall concern into sharp focus by having 'Fairness in Language Testing' as its theme. The conference presentations and discussions attempted to understand the concept of fairness, define the scope of the concept and connect it with the concept of validation of test score interpretation. The papers in this volume offer a first introduction to fairness and validation in the field of language assessment.