• designing new and richer methods of presenting results using qualitative descriptors, rather than merely figures;


• generating new ways of ensuring reliability and validity due to the changing nature of assessments and their contexts;


• considering ethical issues in the development and use of tests.


Task 6 • Referring back to Gipps’ recommendations, what is the difference between norm-referenced tests and criterion-referenced tests?


Why might criterion-referenced tests be more appropriate for the EAP context?


• Which of the suggested measures are feasible for you to action or consider in your own EAP assessment context? Which of the


suggestions are more difficult for you to implement? The message needs reinforcing


Despite warnings surrounding the risks related to gaps in practitioner Assessment Literacy and the existence of models of good practice, there still appears to be a sense from critical language testers (McNamara & Roever, 2006; Shohamy, 2001) that an understanding of the power of tests needs to be reawakened amongst language testers. Given that some of the most powerful contemporary tests are frequently used for entry to university and EAP courses, this area of concern should have particular resonance for those involved in EAP assessment.


Task 7


• Reflect on the global nature of contemporary higher education. Given that international students and their parents may seek to invest a great deal of money in education in other countries, what are the risks if measures of EAP proficiency – drawn from standardized tests – are less than trustworthy?


• Given that governmental requirements may require you to use commercially produced standardized tests which have not been


designed to fit with your local needs, how can you and your institution seek to understand your students’ EAP skills once they have arrived for the start of their degrees or EAP courses?


• Similarly, if in-house EAP assessments delivered by higher education institutions inaccurately block or give access to higher education in the


developed world, how might test takers or institutions which receive test takers suffer?


58


Chapter 5: Preventing problems in EAP testing before they arise


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