Hostname: page-component-6766d58669-6mz5d Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-05-20T14:07:24.991Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Managing learning: Authority and language assessment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 April 2011

Tim McNamara
Tim McNamara*
Affiliation:
School of Languages and Linguistics, The University of Melbourne, Australiatfmcna@unimelb.edu.au
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

A feature of language assessment internationally is its role in the enforcement of language policies established by governments and other educational and cultural agencies. This trend has led to the near-universal adoption of curriculum and assessment frameworks, the clearest example of which is the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). What does this movement represent? What is the source of the authority of frameworks such as the CEFR, and why are they so appealing to governments? The paper argues that the determination of test constructs within policy-related frameworks leads to inflexibility, and considers the case of the testing of competence in English as a lingua franca (ELF) communication, in the context of international civil aviation communication.

Information

Type
Plenary Speeches
Information
Language Teaching , Volume 44 , Issue 4 , October 2011 , pp. 500 - 515
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Alderson, J. C. (1991). Bands and scores. In Alderson, J. C. & North, B. (eds.) Language testing in the 1990s. London: Modern English Publications & The British Council, 71–86.Google Scholar
Block, D. (2007). Second language identities. London: Continuum.Google Scholar
Bourdieu, P. (1991). Language and symbolic power. London: Polity Press.Google Scholar
Butler, J. (1997). The psychic life of power: Theories in subjection. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Canagarajah, S. (2007). Lingua franca English, multilingual communities, and language acquisition. The Modern Language Journal 91, Focus Issue, 923–939.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Council of Europe (2001). Common European framework of reference for languages: Learning, teaching and assessment. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Davies, A. (2008). Assessing academic English: Testing English proficiency 1950–89: The IELTS solution. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Fulcher, G. (2004). Deluded by artifices? The Common European Framework and harmonization. Language Assessment Quarterly 1.4, 253–266.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
House, J. (2003). English as a lingua franca: A threat to multilingualism? Journal of Sociolinguistics 7, 556–578.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) (2004). Manual on the implementation of ICAO language proficiency requirements. Montréal: International Civil Aviation Organization.Google Scholar
Jenkins, J. (2000). The phonology of English as an International Language. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Jenkins, J. (2006). Current perspectives on teaching World Englishes and English as a lingua franca. TESOL Quarterly 40, 157–181.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jenkins, J. (2007). English as a lingua franca: Attitude and identity. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Kim, H. & Elder, C. (2009). Understanding aviation English as a lingua franca: Perceptions of Korean aviation personnel. Australian Review of Applied Linguistics 32.3, 23.1–23.17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kramsch, C. (2009). The multilingual subject. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Mauranen, A. & Ranta, E. (eds.) (2009). English as a lingua franca: Studies and findings. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.Google Scholar
McNamara, T. (2001). Language assessment as social practice: Challenges for research. Language Testing 18.4, 333–349.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McNamara, T. (2011). Measuring deficit. In Candlin, C. N. & Crichton, J. (eds.), Discourses of deficit. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 311–326.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McNamara, T. & Roever, C. (2006). Language testing: The social dimension. Malden, MA & Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
McNamara, T. & Ryan, K. (2011). Fairness vs. justice in language testing: The place of English literacy in the Australian citizenship test. Language Assessment Quarterly 8.2.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morrow, K. (ed.) (2004). Insights from the Common European Framework. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
North, B. (2006). The Common European Framework of Reference: Development, theoretical and practical issues. Paper presented at the symposium ‘A New Direction in Foreign Language Education: The Potential of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages’, Osaka University of Foreign Studies, Japan, March.Google Scholar
Pavlenko, A. (2005). Emotions and multilingualism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Pavlenko, A. (2007). Autobiographic narratives as data in applied linguistics. Applied Linguistics 28.2, 163–188.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pitzl, M.-L. (2010). English as a lingua franca in international business. Resolving miscommunication and reaching shared understanding. Saarbrücken: VDM-Verlag Müller.Google Scholar
Seidlhofer, B. (2003). A concept of international English and related issues: From ‘real English’ to ‘realistic English’? Strasbourg: Council of Europe, Language Policy Division DG IV – Directorate of School, Out-of-School and Higher Education.Google Scholar
Seidlhofer, B. (2005). Standard future or half-baked quackery? Descriptive and pedagogic bearings on the globalisation of English. In Gnutzmann, C. & Intemann, F. (eds.), Globalisation and the English language classroom. Tübingen: Narr, 155–169.Google Scholar
Seidlhofer, B. (2006). English as a lingua franca in the expanding circle: What it isn't. In Rubdy, R. & Saraceni, M. (eds.), English in the World: Global rules, global roles. London: Continuum, 40–50.Google Scholar
Seidlhofer, B. (2009). Common ground and different realities: World Englishes and English as a lingua franca. World Englishes 28.2, 236–245.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Seidlhofer, B., Breiteneder, A. & Pitzl, M-L. (2006). English as a lingua franca in Europe. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics 26, 1–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shohamy, E. (2001). The power of tests: A critical perspective on the uses of language tests. London: Pearson.Google Scholar
Shohamy, E. (2006). Language policy: Hidden agendas and new approaches. Abingdon & New York: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Spolsky, B. (1995). Measured words. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Taylor, L. & Jones, N. (2006). Cambridge ESOL exams and the Common European Framework of Reference. University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations Research Notes 24: 2–5.Google Scholar
Trim, J. L. M. (1980). Developing a unit/credit scheme of adult language learning. Oxford & New York: Pergamon Press on behalf of the Council of Europe.Google Scholar
Van Avermaet, P. (2009). Fortress Europe? Language policy regimes for immigration and citizenship. In Hogan-Brun, G., Mar-Molinero, C. & Stevenson, P. (eds.), Discourses on language and integration: Critical perspectives on language testing regimes in Europe. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 15–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Supplementary material: PDF

McNamara Supplementary Material

McNamara Supplementary Material

Download McNamara Supplementary Material(PDF)
PDF 59.9 KB