Defining and Assessing Academic Language Proficiency

Abstract

Having looked at a variety of post-entry language assessments, we now need to explore the appropriate construct on which to base the development of this kind of measure. Construct validity has come to have a central place in the modern theory of educational measurement (Cronbach 1989, Messick 1989), and in language assessment (Bachman 1990, McNamara & Roever 2006). Thus, one of the primary tasks in designing and validating an assessment for a particular purpose is to define the nature of the underlying construct, which then leads to a specification of the kinds of knowledge and/or skills which the students need to demonstrate.