El. knyga: Testing ESL Sociopragmatics: Development and Validation of a Web-based Test Battery

Testing of second language pragmatics has grown as a research area but still suffers from a tension between construct coverage and practicality. In this book, the authors describe the development and validation of a web-based test of second language pragmatics for learners of English. The test has a sociopragmatic orientation and strives for a broad coverage of the construct by assessing learners’ metapragmatic judgments as well as their ability to co-construct discourse. To ensure practicality, the test is delivered online and is scored partially automatically and partially by human raters. We used the argument-based approach to validation, which showed that the test can support low-stakes decisions about learners’ knowledge of sociopragmatics in English.

This book describes the development and argument-based validation of a web-based test of second language pragmatics for learners of English. The test has a sociopragmatic orientation and strives for broad coverage of the construct by assessing metapragmatic judgment as well as the ability to co-construct discourse.

Applied linguists describe the development and validation of a pragmatics test designed for second language learners of Australian English. They created a web-based testing instrument assessing test takers' ability to judge the politeness and conventionality of utterances, recognize conventional discourse structure, produce conventionally appropriate language, and participate in extended conversations. They validated the test using language learners in Australia and some in Chile, as well as native speakers of Australian English. The test can serve as a low-stakes screening and feedback instrument, they say, showing gaps in the pragmatic knowledge of learners such as international students and migrants. Annotation ©2014 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com)