Overview

ISSN: 1833-4105

Editor:

Seyyed Abbas Mousavi
School of Languages, Literatures and Cultures, University of Maryland

Assessment is and should rightly be at the heart of any pedagogical activities to make them more accountable and explain the success or otherwise of the teaching/learning systems. Among the many roles of assessment is the determination of whether the pedagogies in place are achieving what they must achieve, hence the classical requirement for any valid and working educational system.

Language Testing is  a Special  Issue that focuses on the interfaces between pedagogies and assessment. It reflects both the ongoing work of specialists in the research field and teachers who as professionals today are under increasing pressure to assess and report on their students'performance, and the emerging new ideas about the relationships between pedagogies and assessment of learning.

The articles in this issue shed light on testing and assessment topics in language learning contexts and make strong cases for further research and studies in the area. Some of the issues covered are:

• The issues related to content and construct validation and the reliability of this internationally renowned assessment instrument

• The effect of redundant and consistent stems in multiple-choice vocabulary tests on pre-university students' perform

• The effect of the use of digital video in the development of a general proficiency of spoken English language test

• Suggestions for pedagogical change that are seen as best able to facilitate students' practical and functional use of English, including the uptake of information and communication technology

• The implementation of a standardised scoring rubric for speaking assessment

The aim of this Special Issue is  to further enhance the professional field of assessment and specifically language testing within the context of language learning and teaching and is such it is invaluable reading for educators.

Table of Contents

A review of Diplomas de Español como Lengua Extranjera (DELE)
Mignette M. Garvida

Are teachers teaching to the test?: A case study of the College English Test (CET) in China
Hongli Li phD

Redundant versus consistent stems in multiple-choice vocabulary tests and their effects on the pre-university students' performance
Bahman Gorjian Ph.D., Alireza Jalilifar Ph.D, Halimeh Mousavi

Developing a scoring rubric for a course-specific pair work telephoning speaking assessment using intuitive and data-based methods
Fadi Tannouri

Examining washback in second language education contexts: A high stakes provincial exam and the teacher factor in classroom practice in Quebec secondary schools
Carolyn Turner

Protocol analysis in the validation of language tests: Potential of the method, state of the evidence
Ying Zheng

Association of domain-specific knowledge and analytical ability with insight problem solving in mathematics
Cumali Oksuz