Critical language testing and English lingua franca

In this investigation, Kristin J. Davin analyzes current and former emergent bilingual learners’ decisions to take or not take a language proficiency assessment in a home language to pursue a Seal of Biliteracy (SoBL). The SoBL is a policy adopted in forty states to counteract English-only ideologies by recognizing students who graduate high school bilingual and biliterate. Considering the power of assessments and the complexity of the decision to take a test of proficiency in one’s home language, this study uses the history-in-person framework to understand the factors that shape students’ decisions to take, or not take, the “seals test.” Davin’s findings point toward considerations and changes necessary to SoBL implementation to ensure that the policy meets the needs of the emergent bilingual learners it was intended to benefit.

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What Counts in Second Language Oral Communication Ability? The Perspective of Linguistic Laypersons

Applied Linguistics ◽

10.1093/applin/amy032 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 40 (6) ◽

pp. 894-916 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Takanori Sato ◽

Tim McNamara

Keyword(s):

Second Language ◽

Language Testing ◽

Oral Communication ◽

Oral Proficiency ◽

General Purpose ◽

Proficiency Tests ◽

Oral Performance ◽

Lingua Franca ◽

Communication Ability ◽

English Speaking

Abstract 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 general-purpose oral proficiency tests. This potentially weakens the validity of such tests because the ultimate arbiters of L2 speakers’ oral performance are not trained language professionals. This study investigates the perspectives of these linguistic laypersons on L2 communication ability. Twenty-three native and non-native English-speaking linguistic laypersons judged L2 speakers’ oral performances and verbalized the reasons for their judgments. The results showed that the participants focus not only on the linguistic aspects of the speaker’s output but also on features that applied linguists have less paid attention to. Even where speaker’s linguistic errors were acknowledged, message conveyance and comprehensibility of the message contributed to their judgment. The study has implications for language testing and the development of tests reflecting the construct of English as a lingua franca.

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