Vol. 44 in the Studies in Language Testing series.

Includes bibliographical references.

"This volume explores the role of multilingualism in social, educational and practical contexts. It brings together a collection of edited papers based on presentations given at the 5th International Conference of the Association of Language Testers in Europe (ALTE) held in Paris, France, in April 2014.

The selected papers focus on several core strands addressed during the conference. Section 1 deals with frameworks in social contexts and focuses on their roles in migration and multilingual policy and practice. It addresses how recent education reforms aim to increase both social mobility and intercultural communication. Section 2 focuses on the response of language assessment providers to the rise of linguistic diversity. Section 3 then discusses the role of intercultural professionalisation of language assessors. Finally, Section 4 reflects on the approach of various institutes to achieve fairness and quality in test provision.

Key features of the volume include:
insights on the effect of multilingualism on international mobility
discussion of how multilingualism can address the challenge of increasing linguistic diversity
reflection on the impact of intercultural communication on linguistic competence
advice on how to ensure fairness and quality in language assessment.

With its broad coverage of key issues and combination of theoretical insights and practical advice, this volume is a valuable reference work for academics, employers and policy-makers in Europe and beyond. It is also a useful resource for postgraduate students of language testing and for practitioners, and anyone else seeking to understand the policies, procedures and challenges encountered in the application of multilingualism." (Book Cover)

CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

Series Editors' Note

Introduction / Coreen Docherty and Fiona Barker

Section 1 Culture, mediation and interactions 1. Intercultural competence - learning, teaching and assessment / Neil Jones
2. Intercultural communication - what's missing ? / Elaine Boyd and David Donnarumma
3. Task dependant translanguaging performance: An empirical study in a testing context / Maria Stathopoulou
4. A computational and psycholinguistic investigation of cultural familiarity and reading comprehension exam performance in Greece / Trisevgeni Liontou
5. Le plurilingualisme et la lingua franca : un rôle pour l'évaluation dans le redressement du déséquilibre linguistique en Europe / Anne Gallagher

Section 2 Language learning and assessment for education and migration
6. An update on the CEFR-J project and its impact on English language education in Japan / Masashi Negishi and Yukio Tono
7. Learning subject matter in a second language: A CEFR-based tool to support immigrants and migrant students / Eli Moe, Marita Härmälä and Paula Lee Kristmanson
8. Assessment as recognition: An e-portfolio for valuing Noth America's linguistic diversity / Enrica Piccardo
9. Impacts of international language assessments on multilingualism: Evidence from an iterative impact study of Progetto Lingue 2000 / Roger Hawkey and Sarah Ellis
10. Language assessment for migration and social integration: A case study / Paola Masillo
11. Migrant associations get involved: Non-formal education and learning Portuguese as a host language / Catarina Gaspar, Maria José Grosso and Heinz-Peter Gerhardt
12. Getting to know the minimally competent person / Beate Zeidler
13. Language standards for medical practice in the UK: Issues of fairness and quality for all / Vivien Berry and Barry O'Sullivan

Section 3 Teachers' professional development and assessment
14. Profiling teacher competences: The multilingual validation of the European Profiling Grid (EPG) / Brian North
15. Teacher involvement in high-stakes testing / Daniel Xerri and Patricia Vella Briffa
16. Investigating aspects of Assessment Literacy for Teachers of English for Academic Purposes / Anthony Manning
17. Test fairness to prospective teachers in Teacher Employment Examinations (TEEs): An investigation focusing on rater behaviour / Tomoyasu Akiyama

Section 4 Fairness, quality and validation
18. Ensuring test quality and fairness in the Asian EFL context: Challenges and opportunities for the GEPT in Taiwan / Jessica R. W. Wu
19. A TAP Study of Thai test takers' processes of taking a Chinese vocabulary test / Xiangdong Gu, Yuwen Shen and Jian Xu
20. Exploring the Chinese proficiency test Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi and its washback effects: The test takers' perspective / Shujiao Wang
21. From monolingual to bilingual through testing: the OPENPAU Project (FFI2011-224422) /
Jesus Garcia Laborda and Mary Frances Litzler
22. Meeting standards in scoring speaking: Monitoring and improving the quality of examinations in Italian / Giuliana Grego Bolli, Jane Lloydand Danilo Rini
23. Assessment of spoken interaction in two conditions: Teacher-to-student versus student-to-student / Pascale Manoilov and Claire Tardieu
24. Comparing native and non-native raters of US Federal Government speaking tests / Rachel L. Brooks
25. Investigating the use of text-to-speech assistive technology in the language testing of students with Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLDs) / Geraldine Ludbrook

Notes on contributors

Presentations at the ALTE Conference in Paris, 2014.