This volume contains a selection of research papers that were presented at the 15th Annual Language Testing Research Colloquium (LTRC) on the themes of performance testing, and on aspects of communication in relation to cognition and assessment.  Meer

This book investigates the influence of test taker characteristics on performance in tests of English as a foreign language by exploring the relationships between these two groups of variables.  Meer

This book documents a major study comparing the Cambridge First Certificate in English (FCE) with the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) to investigate similarities in test content, candidature and use.  Meer

This publication highlights the need for test developers to provide clear explanations of the ability constructs which underpin tests offered in the public domain.  Meer

Language testers are increasingly directing their attention to the development of computer-adaptive testing (CAT) instruments for assessing learners' second language ability.  Meer

The focus on careful reading in theoretical literature has meant that we have somewhat ignored reading behaviours such as skimming, scanning and search reading in the teaching and testing of reading.  Meer

This Festschrift brings together 28 invited papers surveying the state of the art in language testing. The papers, by key figures in the field of language testing, cover issues ranging from test construct definition to the design and applications of language tests, including their importance as a means of exploring larger issues in language teaching, language learning and language policy.  Meer

The International English Language Testing System (IELTS) plays a key role in international student access to universities around the world. Although IELTS includes a direct test of writing, it has been suggested that test preparation may hinder international students from acquiring academic literacy skills required for university study.  Meer

This publication highlights the need for test developers to provide clear explanations of the ability constructs which underpin tests offered in the public domain.  Meer

This volume explores the use of summary tasks as an effective means of assessing reading comprehension ability. It reports on a series of empirical studies that investigated the development and trialling of text-removed summary completion tasks and discusses the correlation of these tasks with results from independent measures to validate text-removed summary completion as a measure of reading comprehension ability.  Meer

This volume describes an empirical framework for test validation and comparison of level-based test batteries. The Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) and two levels (Preliminary and First) of a CEFR-aligned multilevel test battery, served as external referents for a review of the similarities and differences between General English Proficiency Test (GEPT) reading components, and a five-level criterion-referenced EEFL testing system, developed in the Taiwanese education context, targeting CEFR levels B1 and B2.  Meer

What explains variation in human language? How are linguistic and social factors related? How do we examine possible semantic differences between variants?  Meer

This volume takes a framework for validating tests that was developed in language testing, and applies it to an admissions test used for biomedical courses.  Meer

This volume examines the nature of second language listening proficiency and how it can be assessed. The book highlights the need for test developers to provide a clear explication of the ability constructs which underpin the tests they offer in the public domain.  Meer

This volume reports research that informs the development of reading and listening assessment in IELTS. This volume brings together a set of eight IELTS-related research studies - four on reading and four on listening - conducted between 2005 and 2010.  Meer

How we vary our speech is fundamental in signalling who we are, where we're from and where we're going. How and when does such variation arise? Here, leading experts Jennifer Smith and Mercedes Durham address this question through a sociolinguistic analysis of the speech of preschool children in interaction with their primary caregivers.  Meer

Topics are often used as a key speech elicitation method in performance-based assessments of spoken language and yet, the validity and fairness issues surrounding topics are surprisingly under-researched.  Meer

This volume explores the impact of multilingualism on learning, teaching and assessment, viewed from the perspective of policies, procedures and challenges.  Meer

This volume outlines the general principles of Learning Oriented Assessment (LOA), placing it in the context of European language learning policy. The authors pose three key questions central to LOA: 'What is learning?  Meer

This volume provides a theoretical and practical discussion of mixed methods research and its application in language assessment. The authors present a discussion of the role of mixed methods design in language assessment, offering practical illustrations of different mixed method designs and decisions to be made in presenting mixed methods research.  Meer