Introducing Second Language Assessment

In Chapter 4, the author introduces the concept of validity. The chapter begins with an exploration of approaches to defining a construct. These approaches include using language theory, a language needs analysis, corpora, and curriculum objectives to help test developers determine what specific language ability they desire to measure. The chapter emphasizes the importance of alignment, which relates to how well the test content and test taker response processes match the construct’s content and the response processes that the test aims to measure. The author uses a detailed example of assessing children’s ability to communicate on a playground in a second language. The major point of the example is that the assessment should require children to use the same kinds of language they use when they communicate on the playground. This alignment helps ensure that the assessment measures the targeted language ability and will lead to positive washback on teaching and learning.