Humanising Language Testing

Humanising Language Testing

Test-takers’ voices in relation to high-stakes language tests have received growing attention in recent years. While the perspectives of this stakeholder group can be utilised to improve test quality, test-taking experience, and test impact, we argue that this goal needs to be achieved by considerin...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:TESL-EJ (Berkeley, Calif.) Calif.), 2018-05, Vol.22 (1), p.1
Main Authors: Hamid, M Obaidul, Hoang, Ngoc T H
Format: Article
Language:eng
Subjects:
College Students
English (Second Language)
English as a second language tests
English as an international language
Experience
Feedback
Feedback (Response)
Focus Groups
Foreign Countries
Global Approach
Globalization
High Stakes Tests
Humanization
Interviews
Language Tests
Policy
Qualitative Research
Questionnaires
Second Language Learning
Student Surveys
Test Content
Test Wiseness
Testing
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Summary:Test-takers’ voices in relation to high-stakes language tests have received growing attention in recent years. While the perspectives of this stakeholder group can be utilised to improve test quality, test-taking experience, and test impact, we argue that this goal needs to be achieved by considering a fundamental shift in our conceptualisation of language tests based on test-takers’ experiential and perceptual data. This is a shift towards humanising language testing in a globalised world which has witnessed growing expansion, commercialisation, and potential dehumanising of high-stakes tests such as IELTS (International English Language Testing System). Drawing on data from two larger studies, we illustrate the call for humanising the test in seven areas including test purpose, test policy, test-taking experience, test administration, test-taker background, test content and task, and feedback on test performance. Although humanisation has accumulated specific meanings and contentions in the past few decades, test-takers’ call for a friendly, responsive, and closer-to-life test and a less stressful test-taking experience may appear more legitimate than controversial in a globalised world.
ISSN:1072-4303
1072-4303