This volume presents an international perspective on the different approaches language assessment researchers have taken on valiation. For researchers, practitioners, and graduate students.
Features selected papers from the 17th Language Testing Research Colloquium. The volume contributes to the variety of validation approaches, analytical and interpretive techniques recently adopted by language assessment researchers by presenting diverse approaches with an international perspective.
"...this volume is a significant addition to the literature in educational measurement as well as that of language assessment. It offers a variety of important perspectives on the question of test validation in the context of a coherent framework provided by one of the leading theorists in pyschometrics....its carefully conducted research and thoughtful discussions and interpretations of results should be accessible and of interest to a wide range of practitioners in educational measurement, language testing, applied linguistics, and pedagogy."
—Contemporary Psychology
"Validation in Language Assessment is an essential read for those working in the language testing community. Kunnan has done an admirable job in selecting the studies represented in this volume as they present diverse approaches to test validity from an international perspective. A particularly valuable part of the book is the annotated list of suggested readings presented at the end of each chapter. Kunnan's volume is a valuable addition to the body of knowledge in language assessment."
—TESL-EJ
"Kunnan, his contributors, and Erlbaum are to be commended for a rich, well edited, and thematically unified offering. Some wise decisions were made: author-provided abstracts, references following each paper, author-provided annotated bibliographies, and a rich index. This is more than a collection of conference papers. It is a book in its own right with the potential to become a textbook on language test validation....The harvest is evident: Kunnan has maintained a wonderful standard for our crops."
—Studies in Second Language
"Many of the studies in this volume will advance the notion of validity in valuable ways. One of the central notions developed by the authors is fairly simple, but provocative. That is, validity does not exist independently; it is, rather, a relative phenomenon that differs according to the individuals who take the test....The international representation of the authors in the volume will attract readers from around the world, primarily university-level researchers, graduate students, and test developers."
—Lee Gunderson
University of British Columbia
"This notable volume contributes significant, unique information to researchers, educators, and graduate students whose work focuses on language testing. Each chapter presents a validation study in depth, describing a particular approach to validation research, a unique set of findings, and useful implications for future inquiry and practice in language testing. As a whole, the volume helps to advance knowledge in this area and displays a range of important, innovative orientations to research."
—Alister Cumming
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education
