Testing ESL Sociopragmatics : Development and Validation of a Web-based Test Battery

Roever, Carsten; Fraser, Catriona; Elder, Catherine

ISBN 10: 3631653794 / ISBN 13: 9783631653791

Published by Peter Lang GmbH, Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften, 2014

About this Item

Seller Inventory # 22003101-n

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Testing ESL Sociopragmatics : Development and Validation of a Web-based Test Battery
• Publisher: Peter Lang GmbH, Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften
• Publication Date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 3631653794
• ISBN 13: 9783631653791
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

Testing of second language pragmatics has grown as a research area but still suffers from a tension between construct coverage and practicality. In this book, the authors describe the development and validation of a web-based test of second language pragmatics for learners of English. The test has a sociopragmatic orientation and strives for a broad coverage of the construct by assessing learners’ metapragmatic judgments as well as their ability to co-construct discourse. To ensure practicality, the test is delivered online and is scored partially automatically and partially by human raters. We used the argument-based approach to validation, which showed that the test can support low-stakes decisions about learners’ knowledge of sociopragmatics in English.

About the Author

Carsten Roever is Senior Lecturer in Applied Linguistics at the University of Melbourne.
Catriona Fraser holds a PhD in Applied Linguistics from the University of Melbourne.
Catherine Elder is the former director of the Language Testing Research Centre at the University of Melbourne.