Guest Editorial to the special issue on language assessment literacy

Abstract

In the editorial to the first issue of Language Testing Journal, which appeared in June 1984, the editors, Arthur Hughes and Don Porter, state that “This new journal has come into being as a forum devoted exclusively to the issues that concern those involved in, or simply interested in, the assessment of language ability in one form or another.” In addition to encouraging a wide writerand readership, they also assure that “the field covered will be a broad one”, encompassing diverse language teaching learning and testing situations (1984, p. i). This approach is indeed reflected in the range of topics covered in this very first issue: from validity and reliability concerns in language tests, to research on the test taker’s perspective and to testing English as a Second Language versus Mother Tongue and English as a Foreign Language. The contributions to the journal upon its inception mapped out at that point in time the basic areas of research in the language testing terrain, setting the stage for professional developments in the field that have been shaped to a great extent by the journal’s publications. It is thus apt that this current issue, which marks the 30th anniversary of the journal, attempts to examine via the lens of language assessment literacy the knowledge base that underlies and typifies language testing and assessment as a discipline of study. Discussion on the nature of assessment literacy, a concept introduced with reference to the knowledge assessors need to possess (Stiggins, 1991), reflects an ongoing debate on the nature of the professional knowledge in the field of language testing. The debate has emerged more forcibly as of late due to an increased demand for and use of assessment data by a more diverse group of stakeholders than before, many of whom are novices in the field and have limited or partial knowledge in language testing and assessment and its concerns. The discussion is conducted on inter-related themes: the first focuses on assessment literacy in the language domain, that is, whether there is an agreed-upon theoretical, practical, and experiential knowledge base required for fulfilling assessment and testing functions in language-related situations; the second relates to whether language testing professionals should act as gatekeepers and allow in only those who are considered assessment literate, or whether the profession should reach out to impart differential language assessment knowledge according to needs, to wide circles of applied linguists, teachers, parents, bureaucrats, and politicians. Another issue that is currently 480126 LTJ30310.1177/0265532213480126Language TestingEditorial 2013