抢鲜读 | 关于语言测评的常见误区（下）

SOME COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS AND UNREALISTIC EXPECTATIONS ABOUT LANGUAGE ASSESSMENT

We’ve found that many people who need to use language assessments in the real world have misconceptions and unrealistic expectations about what language assessments can do and what they should be like. These often prevent people from becoming competent in language assessment. Furthermore, there is often a belief that “language testers” have some almost magical procedures and formulae for creating the “best” test. These misconceptions and unrealistic expectations, and the mystique associated with language testing, constitute strong affective barriers to many people who want and need to be able to use language assessments in their professional work. Breaking down this affective barrier by dispelling and clarifying misconceptions, helping readers develop a sense of what can reasonably be expected of language assessments, and demystifying language testing is thus an important goal of this book.

Alternatives to Misconceptions（接中篇）

The alternatives to the three misconceptions presented in Table 1.1 provide the rationale for the approach to language testing that we present in this book.

Alternative 1The first alternative is to realize that looking for perfection in a language test is unrealistic. Rather what we should focus on is developing an assessment whose intended uses we can justify to stakeholders. For example, we could explain to stakeholders that students will know how well they performed and adjust study habits accordingly, and teachers will know how well students performed and adjust teaching accordingly.
Alternative 2aAnother alternative reflects our belief that the people who are closest to and most familiar with the assessment situation need to be directly involved in the assessment development process. These are the test stakeholders, the individuals who will be most directly affected by the way the test is used and by the consequences of using the test to make decisions. Equally important is our belief that people who design and develop the test need to be competent in language testing. Thus, in many cases, test development is a team effort, bringing together individuals with complementary skills, experience, and knowledge, such as content specialists, teachers, and specialists in language testing. However, there are many situations, such as the development of classroom language assessments, where individuals with expertise in language testing may not be available. In situations such as these, it is essential for the classroom teachers themselves to be competent in language testing.
Alternative 2bAnother alternative reflects our belief that practitioners can become competent in language testing. Ideally, language teachers and other applied linguists who need to use language tests will have access to formal training in language testing, either through courses or workshops. In many cases, however, this is not possible, either because courses or workshops are not available, or because practitioners may not have access to these due to limited time or resources. Self-instruction in language assessment is much more feasible now than it was even five years ago, as a wealth of materials, in addition to this book, is available for individuals who wish to become competent in language assessment. A list of some resource materials on language assessment is provided at the end of this chapter.
Alternative 3

The last alternative reflects our view that rather than thinking of assessments as “good” or “bad,” it is more productive to consider the extent to which we can justify their intended uses by constructing an Assessment Use Argument (AUA) and providing backing to support this. This alternative also indicates that justifying the use of a particular assessment does not depend on a single quality, but is rather a function of many qualities that are articulated in an AUA. The ways in which these are stated in an AUA for a given assessment situation will determine the extent to which we can justify the intended uses of the assessment to stakeholders.

往期回顾：

本文节选自《语言测评实践：现实世界中的测试开发与使用论证》（Language Assessment in Practice: Developing Language Assessments and Justifying Their Use in the Real World）一书。Bachman, L. & Palmer, A. (2016). Language Assessment in Practice: Developing Language Assessments and Justifying Their Use in the Real World. Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press.
内容提要：本书系语言测评领域权威学者Bachman教授的代表作之一，系统地阐述了指导语言测试开发与使用的框架。全书分三部分，第一部分重点呈现语言测试开发与使用的理论基础；第二部分详细描述如何在语言测试开发的起始阶段构建“测试使用论证”框架；第三部分深入剖析如何在现实世界中开发和使用语言测试。 本书是近年来语言测试领域不可多得的著作，代表了语言测试的最新发展，将会对语言测试的设计、开发、使用乃至研究带来深远的影响。对语言测评领域的研究生、教师、教师培训者、研究者及考试机构从业人员都具有很高的参考价值。

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