This volume, derived from papers presented at the 2016 GURT conference, seeks to explore research and examples of practice of assessment and evaluation in language education. The specific--and varied--ways in which assessment and evaluation are able to impact learning and teaching have become an important language education research concern, particularly as educators are increasingly called upon to implement these processes for improvement, accountability, or curricular development purposes. This volume is divided into three parts, each exploring a different element of the conversation around assessment: "Connecting assessment, learners, and learning"; "Innovating, framing, and exploring assessment in language education"; and "Validity evaluation."
About the Author: John McE. Davis is John McE. Davis is Research Scientist at the Center for English Language Learning and Assessment at the Educational Testing Service, USA. His research interests include language program evaluation, language assessment, and questionnaire research methods.
John M. Norris is Senior Research Director of the Center for English Language Learning and Assessment at the Educational Testing Service, USA. His primary research interests include educational uses of language assessment, program evaluation, task-based language teaching, and research synthesis.
Margaret E. Malone is Director of the Assessment and Evaluation Language Resource Center (AELRC) and Research Professor at Georgetown University and Director of the Center for Assessment, Research and Development at ACTFL. Her current research focuses on language assessment literacy, oral proficiency assessment and the relative difficulty of learning different languages.
Todd H. McKay is a Ph.D. candidate in applied linguistics and research assistant with the AELRC at Georgetown University. His research interests include language assessment, language program evaluation, and applied measurement, with emphases on the less commonly taught languages and language programs in South Asia.
Young-A Son is a PhD candidate in the Department of Linguistics at Georgetown University. Her research interests include the assessment of foreign and heritage language learners. More specifically, her work examines validation of language tests and other indicators of language proficiency for research as well as instructional purposes.
