Task 5


• To what extent do you feel that the construct validity of your EAP teaching and assessment has been influenced or constrained by practices associated with external or institutional assessment models?


• How have you managed any challenges that you have faced in such situations?


Governmental policy and EAP assessment washback


One aspect of EAP testing washback which is triggered by forces beyond those of testing companies and examination boards can be linked to government policy and the identification of the types of test which are permissible for visa purposes. For example, in the UK, it is no longer possible to admit international students to pre-degree programmes or pre-sessional language courses without students having gained a satisfactory score through assessments, taken at a restricted range of test centres, which are centrally listed as being one of a series of Secure English Language Tests.


This single policy change has prevented the use of institutions’ in-house EAP testing mechanisms for visa purposes. This outcome demonstrates how the change of policy relating to language testing can impact a range of different stakeholders, including international students and test development, and related research within universities; it also changes the equilibrium in terms of knowledge and power (Foucault, 1977; Foucault & Gordon, 1980).


Although O’Sullivan (2011, pp. 265–270) acknowledges the potential threats to test quality if teachers’ Assessment Literacy is limited during the development of local in-house tests, certain benefits are also mentioned regarding the local contexts in which many in-house tests are created. Rea-Dickins, Kiely and Yu, in O’Sullivan (2011), argue that, in most situations, local tests are more likely to allow practitioners to make valid assumptions about test takers.


This modern-day example highlights both the range of political considerations which have come to be associated with language testing and the restriction which this situation places on the EAP profession in terms of providing opportunities for staff to develop skills in assessment through professional practice.


Task 6


• Has the washback from testing-related policy at government level ever had an impact on your own EAP teaching and assessment practices? If so, in what way(s)?


• How have you managed any challenges that you have faced in such situations?


Chapter 11: Washback 133


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