Innovations in Language Assessment Practices

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue, titled ‘Innovations in Language Assessment Practices’, aims to share new ideas, research, and innovations in language assessment among those involved in different educational contexts. It will focus on theoretical/conceptual perspectives of language assessment at different levels of education and empirical research related to classroom-based assessment and assessment innovations.

In an era characterized by linguistic diversity, globalization, and technological innovation, the landscape of language assessment is continuously evolving. Language assessment plays a pivotal role in evaluating proficiency, promoting learning, and fostering multilingual competencies. Traditional assessment practices often fall short in capturing the nuanced complexities of language acquisition and communication. There is, however, a growing recognition of the need for assessment practices that are more inclusive, learner-centered, and reflective of real-world challenges.

Given the unprecedented increase in the number of users of the English language for a variety of purposes, English language assessment has been more vibrant than ever. In the past two to three decades, ESL has been introduced from the early years of schooling. In this scenario, an area of crucial importance relates to curriculum-based assessment in school and college contexts, which teachers handle, unlike summative/term-end tests that universities/school boards manage. The challenge, however, is assessing students on various language skills in unseen/unrehearsed contexts, rather than on memorized answers. Questions arise: Are teachers equipped to do this competently and efficiently? Who trains them in language assessment literacy (Villa Larenas and Brunfaut 2023)? Do tests take into account fairness and justice principles (Kunnan 2018)? How is teaching modified to help learners become more proficient? As Swaffield (2011) argues, AfL (Assessment for Learning) is “a powerful form of learning itself” (p.436). A critical analysis of existing assessment practices and their washback on teaching and learning would interest researchers and teachers. Further, a social constructivist model of learning and meaning-making, with the language classroom representing the community of practice (Berry, Sheehan, and Munro 2017), may be a way forward. Innovative practices, for example, the strategies that test takers adopt (see Henry and Davydenko 2020), would be of particular interest to the readers of this Special Issue.

The increase in the number of test takers, along with developments in computer-assisted techniques including artificial intelligence, has triggered significant interest among researchers in exploring various assessment techniques and enabled a transformation from face-to-face learning to virtual learning. During and post COVID, the times necessitated the use of online mechanisms to determine what children and adults were actually learning and how any deficits needed to be addressed. This was especially relevant to contexts such as India and other South-East Asian countries where access to the internet and gadgets was limited. Globally, significant strides have been made in studying the patterns of student engagement in authentic online learning environments to improve student learning (Herrington, Reeves, and Oliver 2013).

There are other pressing concerns in assessment, such as using multilingual (ML) strategies not only for teaching but also for assessment. A discussion of notions such as code meshing and translanguaging, among others, and developing a scale for rating ML competencies becomes crucial. Research in these areas is growing rapidly, making assessment more learner-friendly, though more complex. We need to address a variety of questions: Is language proficiency monolingual or multilingual? If translanguaging is the deployment of a speaker’s full linguistic repertoire without regard for the adherence to socially and politically defined boundaries of named languages (Otheguy et al 2015), how do we assess ML fluidity and contingency in language use? We will need to develop a collaborative assessment approach and support teachers, students, and other stakeholders in this whole process (Leung 2022).

The scope of expected contributions

The canvas for exploring these and other assessment issues is broad and open. We welcome contributions that are innovative and will enrich the language assessment field.

This call aims to explore alternative assessment methodologies and innovative practices that address the diverse needs of language learners in today's educational landscape. Topics may include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Alternative assessment;
• Teacher roles;
• The shift from proficiency to language potentiality;
• Assessment for learning;
• Classroom-based assessment;
• Technology-based assessment;
• Multilingual assessment.

Submission steps:

1. Proposal abstract submission (July 15).

Interested individuals are expected to submit an abstract of the proposed contribution by 15 July 2024 to the Languages Editorial Office ([email protected]). For any questions related to the content suitability, please contact the First Guest Editor at [email protected].

2. Notification of acceptance (August 31).

The abstracts will be reviewed, and the notification of acceptance will be sent to the authors by 31 August 2024.

3. Submission of the full article (December 15)

Authors of selected contributions will be requested to submit the full articles of 7000–9000 words (maximum) by 15 December 2024.

References

Berry, V., Sheehan, S. and Munro, S. (2017). Exploring Teachers’ Language Assessment Literacy: A Social Constructivist Approach to Understanding Effective Practices. In ALTE 6th International Conference - Learning and Assessment: Making the Connections, 3-5 May, Bologna, Italy.

Henry, A. and Davydenko, S. (2020).Thriving? Or Surviving? An Approach–Avoidance Perspective on Adult Language Learners’ Motivation. The Modern Language Journal, 104(2), 363-380. https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.12635

Herrington, J, Reeves, T.C. and Oliver R. (2013). Authentic learning environments. In J. Elen, M. D. Merrill, M. J. Bishop and M. J. Spector (Eds). Handbook of Research on Educational Communication and Technology. Springer, 401-412.

Kunnan, A.J. (2018). Evaluating language assessments, Routledge.

Leung, C. (2022). English language proficiency: A changing story. A closing Keynote Speech given at the 8^th Annual International Conference of the Asian Association for Language Assessment (AALA) on Classroom-based assessment in the new normal and beyond: Challenges and possibilities, 23-25 October, Chennai, India.

Otheguy, R., García, O. and Reid, W. (2015). Clarifying translanguaging and deconstructing named languages: A perspective from linguistics. Applied Linguistics Review 6 (3), 281-307 https://doi.org/10.1515/applirev-2015-0014.

Swafield, S. (2011). Getting to the heart of authentic Assessment for Learning. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & practice 28(4), 433-449. https://doi.org/10.1080/0969594X.2011.582838.

Villa Larenas, S. and Brunfaut, T. (2023). But who trains the language teacher educator who trains the language teacher? An empirical investigation of Chilean EFL teacher educators’ language assessment literacy. Language Testing 40/3, 463-492. https://doi.org/10.1177/02655322221134218.

Prof. Dr. Antony Kunnan
Prof. Dr. Rama Mathew
Dr. Disha Maheshwari
Guest Editors

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• classroom-based assessment
• assessment for learning
• language assessment literacy
• multilingual assessment
• technology-based assessment