Experimenting with Uncertainty

Contents: Section 1 - The contribution of Alan Davies; 1. Alan Davies and British Applied Linguistics; 2. 10 years of the Language Testing Research Centre; Section 2 - Construct Definition in Language Testing; 3. Communicative Language Testing: the Art of the Possible; 4. Fossilisation or Evolution: the case of grammar testing; 5. The assessment of metalinguistic knowledge; Section 3 - Language Testing for Specific Purposes and Populations; 6. LSP: Three problems in testing language for specific purposes: authenticity, specificity and inseparability; 7. Assessing language skills for specific purposes: describing the behaviour domain; 8. The assessment of language impairment across language backgrounds; 9. A process for translating achievement tests; Section 4 - Judgement in Language Testing; 10. Revising raters and ratings in oral language assessment; 11. Establishing meaningful language test scores for selection and placement; Section 5 - The Uses and Usefulness of Language Tests; 12. Designing and developing useful language tests; 13. Language assessment and professional development; 14. The formative and summative uses of language test data: present concerns and future directions; Section 6 - Language Test Impact; 15. The need for impact studies of L2 performance testing and rating: identifying areas of potential consequences at all levels of the testing cycle; 16. Impact and washback research in language testing; Section 7 - Language Testing in its Policy Context; 17. Prescribe language standards and foreign language classroom practice: relationships and consequences; 18. Rendering ESL accountable: educational and bureaucratic technologies in the Australian context; 19. Social and ethical concerns in English testing for migrants to New Zealand; 20. Testimony from testees: the case against current language policies in sub-Saharan Africa; Section 8 - The Ethics of Language Testing; 21. Cheating language tests can be dangerous; 22. Ethics, fairness(es) and developments in language testing; 23. The ethical potential of alternative language assessment; Section 9 - Language Testing and SLA; 24. Quantitative evaluation of vocabulary - how it can be done and what it is good for; 25. Some thoughts on testing grammar: an SLA perspective; 26. Measuring development and ultimate attainment in non-native grammars; Section 10 - Beyond Language Testing; 27. Fossilization: moving the concept into empirical longitudinal study; 28. The unbearable lightness of being a native speaker; The Publications of Alan Davies.