Evaluating the Effectiveness of Heritage Language Education: What Role for Testing?

Abstract

This paper considers the role of tests in evaluating the effectiveness of a government-funded initiative to teach heritage languages in selected Australian schools. External evaluations were commissioned by the central educational authority and included a pre- and post-test requirement, although the nature and purpose of the tests was not specified. Drawing on illustrative data from four heritage language (HL) programmes (for learners of Chinese, Vietnamese and Arabic), the paper discusses the dilemmas faced by the evaluators in implementing the testing programme and in interpreting the test results. While the experience of testing in these schools suggests the need for extreme caution in using score gains as the sole source of evidence for determining programme effectiveness, it is argued that the process of devising and implementing such tests is valuable in that it forces the schools concerned to make explicit programme goals and the kinds of data that they would accept as evidence that these goals are being achieved. In addition, while the tests used are inadequate measures of genuine learning, they provide insights into the workings of each programme that would not otherwise have been available. The paper concludes with a number of recommendations for more effective use of language tests in HL education contexts.