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François-Marie GERARD (BIEF, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgique)Evaluation as a tool for regulating learning : challenges, necessities and difficulties2013, Vol. XVIII-1, pp. 75-92
School assessment is a systematic procedure which allows enhancing the value of acquired learning as well as giving it meaning.The first challenge is to distinguish between certification evaluation, which aims at probing success in learning, and formative evaluation. This latter is more oriented to improving the acquired learning in itself. This “assessment for learning” can take different forms, depending on the standpoints of the various teachers. A second challenge concerns grasping the evaluation objects: on the one side the knowledge and know-how, and on the other side, the competences needed for their mobilization in order to solve a complex situation.
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Antony John KUNNAN (Los Angeles, Etats-Unis)Statistical analyses for test fairness2010, Vol. XV-1, pp. 39-48
Test fairness in language assessment has now been discussed by researchers for over a decade but statistical methods that can be used to analyze test fairness qualities have not been clearly articulated. In this article, I describe briefly my test fairness framework, the principles behind it and the test qualities that encompass test fairness. I then describe statistical analyses that can be used to analyze tests and testing practice such as factor analysis, structural equation modeling and differential item functioning.
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Tim MCNAMARA (Melbourne, Australie)The use of language tests in the service of policy: issues of validity2010, Vol. XV-1, pp. 7-23
This paper considers the role of language tests as instruments of policy and contemporary society and the issues for validity that this raises. It contrasts approaches which focus solely on the fairness of tests with a broader view of validity which addresses issues of justice in the uses of tests. It illustrates its argument with reference to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages and tests used in workplace accreditation such as language tests for pilots and air traffic controllers and for health professionals.
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José NOIJONS (Cito, Pays-Bas)Issues in constructing an international item bank: Differences in item behaviour across countries2010, Vol. XV-1, pp. 49-59
An international test item bank can help to meaningfully link language performance to European standards and compare foreign language levels of students from different countries. For this we must make sure that students from these countries who are equally good at a language skill have the same chance of giving a correct answer to each item in the item bank. In this article it is shown that items in such an item bank may show item bias. What factors cause these items to operate differently across the different countries is a very interesting and important issue in the area of cross-cultural foreign language testing.
Tests