BOOK REVIEW: Perspectives on Language Assessment Literacy: Challenges for Improved Student Learning

Abstract

Acknowledging the central role language teachers play in the assessment process, viewed as both consumers of testing information and independent assessors, the newly-emergent field of Language Assessment Literacy (LAL) has generally been viewed ‘as a useful knowledge base that incorporates unique aspects inherent in theorizing and assessing language-related performance’ (Inbar-Lourie, 2017, p. 259). This edited volume seeks to further unfold the multifarious concept of LAL in both theoretical and pedagogical terms in an effort to elucidate key issues in the area, enrich current knowledge related to the use of proper assessment practices and procedures in the foreign language (FL) classroom and highlight useful avenues for future research. To this end, the book is organized into four parts with Part 1 addressing predominantly theoretical aspects of language assessment literacy in four separate chapters while subsequent Parts 2, 3 and 4 with three chapters each are strictly devoted to descriptions of specific assessment processes enhancing LAL within a variety of FL contexts worldwide. All contributions are accompanied by lists of useful bibliographical references on the topic while supplementary material related to research design, instruments and methods also appear in appendices at the end of several chapters.