Testing the Untestable in Language Education

This book investigates the intersections between language learning and assessment and four specific areas within language learning: learner autonomy, intercultural competence, literary competence and the integration of content and language learning. It is a valuable study of the seemingly untestable facets of foreign language competence.

The testing and assessment of language competence continues to be a much debated issue in foreign language teaching and research. This book is the first one to address the testing of four important dimensions of foreign language education which have been left largely unconsidered: learner autonomy, intercultural competence, literature and literary competence, and the integration of content and language learning. Each area is considered through a theoretical framework, followed by two empirical studies, raising questions of importance to all language teachers: How can one test literary competence? Can intercultural competence be measured? What about the integrated assessment of content-and-language in CLIL and teaching? Is progress in autonomous learning skill gaugeable? The book constitutes essential reading for anyone interested in the testing and assessment of seemingly largely untestable aspects of foreign language competence.

Chapter 1 More than Language: The Multiple Faces of Testing and Assessment in Language Learning and Teaching - Amos Paran

PART 1 INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE

Chapter 2 Assessing Intercultural Competence: More Questions than Answers - Lies Sercu

Chapter 3 Interculturally Savvy or Not? Developing and Assessing Intercultural Competence in the Context of Learning for Business - Kaisu Korhonen

Chapter 4 Eliciting The Intercultural in Foreign Language Education at School - Anthony J. Liddicoat and Angela Scarino

PART 2 AUTONOMY

Chapter 5 Measuring Autonomy: Should We Put Our Ability to the Test? - Phil Benson

Chapter 6 Assessment of Autonomy or Assessment for Autonomy? Evaluating Learner Autonomy for Formative Purposes - Terry Lamb

Chapter 7 Learners Reflecting on Learning: Evaluation versus Testing in Autonomous Language Learning - Leni Dam and Lienhard Legenhausen

PART 3 LITERATURE

Chapter 8 Between Scylla and Charybdis: The Dilemmas of Testing Language and Literature - Amos Paran

Chapter 9 Crossing The Bridge from Appreciative Reader to Reflective Writer: The Assessment of Creative Process - Jane Spiro

Chapter 10 The Taming of the Immeasurable: An Empirical Assessment of Language Awareness - Hui-wei Lin

PART 4 LANGUAGE AND CONTENT

Chapter 11 Assessing Language and Content: A Functional Perspective - Bernard Mohan, Constant Leung and Tammy Slater

Chapter 12 Teachers and Texts: Judging What ELLs Know From What They Say - Marylin Low

Chapter 13 Towards Systematic and Sustained Formative Assessment of Causal Explanations in Oral Interactions - Tammy Slater and Bernard Mohan