Assessing Speaking in Context

This edited volume investigates the nature and possible applications of an expanded and reconceptualized theoretical construct of speaking as a dynamic socially-constructed endeavour. It addresses both theoretical perspectives and methodological procedures to define and circumscribe the assessment of contextualized speaking. The chapters focus on the complexity brought about by actual interactional competence in speaking tasks and discuss how testing and assessment models and practices can incorporate recent research findings on the inherently dynamic and situated nature of language use. The volume presents research on language assessment in a variety of languages other than English, including French, Chinese and Japanese. It also examines the role that embodied action (gaze, gesture, orientation to materials and texts in the environment) plays in assessment practices, an area that has heretofore remained under-explored.Chapter 6 is free to download as an open access publication. You can access it here: https://zenodo.org/record/5163340#.YQvJ0IhKjcs

A refreshingly provocative collection challenging traditional large-scale approaches to oral language assessment. A convincing case is made for how assessment of interactive communication requires small-scale efforts. The volume concludes that the assessment of interactive communication in all its sociolinguistic grandeur requires new approaches to test construction and ratings, as well as revised thinking as to how results are to be utilized., This exciting collection of diverse perspectives from leading experts in L2 speaking assessment consolidates new thinking on the construct of interactional competence. Tackling the theoretical and practical implications of embracing a broader speaking construct, it is essential reading for researchers and practitioners in classroom or large-scale testing contexts., ...the book offers much of value to readers who recognise the importance of developing interactional competence for second language learners, including students who need English for academic purposes. It will be of greater interest to researchers and practitioners who have a commitment to assessing this component of communicative competence, especially when the EAP students they work with need to acquire professional skills in oral interaction to a high degree, such as majors in business, law and the health sciences., ...this volume contributes to the literature by focusing on both established and new speaking test instruments and presenting cutting-edge research with fine-grained analysis, thus serving as illuminating and inspiring cases for future investigation.

M. Rafael Salaberry is Mary Gibbs Jones Professor of Humanities at Rice University, USA. His research interests include second language acquisition and use, multilingualism, bilingual education, assessment and teaching methodology. Together with S. Kunitz, he is the co-editor of Teaching and Testing Interactional Competence: Bridging Theory and Practice (2019, Routledge).Alfred Rue Burch is an Associate Professor at Kobe University, Japan. His research interests include conversation analysis, discursive psychology, second language acquisition and use, and task-based language teaching and testing.