{"title":"British Council Monographs On Modern Language Testing","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"assessing-the-language-of-young-learners-book-angela-hasselgreen-9781781794708","title":"Assessing the Language of Young Learners","description":"This volume offers new insights into the assessment of the language of Young Learners (YLs). YLs are defined here as being from 5 to 17 years, and are treated as three distinct subgroups: younger children (5\/6 to 8\/9 years), older children (8\/9 to 12\/13 years) and teenagers (12\/13 to 17 years). The first half addresses fundamental issues, beginning with the characteristics of YLs and how these are manifested in first language development. The authors consider the potential ability of each age group to perform in a second or foreign language, proposing a rough age-related correspondence with CEFR levels. Finally, principles of assessment, specifically formative assessment and testing, are presented in the light of linguistic, cognitive and social development. The second half focuses on testing a range of 'skills'. Theoretical models of performance are introduced, followed by a practical analysis of approaches to the testing of each skill for the three age groups, illustrated with examples. The authors conclude by summing up developmental characteristics of each age group, and their implications for language testing. The book is intended for a wide readership within the field of teaching and assessing the language of young learners. 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At times, it is feature-driven, taking a linguistically-atomistic approach with little reference to context or communicative purpose, treating comprehensibility as an abstract construct made up only of linguistic components. At other times, the assessment of comprehensibility is an intuitive action, relying on a holistic sense of understanding by the assessor and rarely going beyond the speaker's utterances to include listener characteristics. The lack of a perspective that encompasses broader linguistic and socio-pragmatic factors that contribute to achieving meaning in spoken language has motivated us to propose the current manuscript as an approach to understanding, defining and assessing comprehensibility. In this monograph, we argue that conceptualising comprehensibility as a multidimensional construct and adopting a broader perspective to understanding and analysing it for communication purposes would benefit the fields of second language assessment and second language acquisition.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eThis work is licensed under https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-nd\/4.0\/\u003cbr\u003e The ebook is free of charge and can be accessed from https:\/\/equinoxonlinelibrary.com\/book\/58244\/comprehensibility-in-language-assessment\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Open Access funded by University of Reading\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":50242382037265,"sku":"NGR9781800504332","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1800504330.jpg?v=1751378665"},{"product_id":"rethinking-the-second-language-listening-test-book-john-field-9781781797150","title":"Rethinking the Second Language Listening Test","description":"Rethinking the Second Language Listening Test argues that the key to more valid testing of second language listening lies in a better understanding of the nature of the skill and of the signal that listeners have to decode. Using this information as a point of departure, it takes a critical look at many of the myths and conventions behind listening tests and provides practical suggestions as to the ways in which they might be rethought. The book begins with an account of the various processes that contribute to listening in order to raise awareness of the difficulties faced by second language learners. The information feeds in to a new set of descriptors of listening behaviour across proficiency levels and informs much of the discussion in later chapters. The main body of the book critically examines the various components of a listening test, challenging some of the false assumptions behind them and proposing practical alternatives. The discussion covers: the recording-as-text, the recording-as-speech, conventions of test delivery, standard task formats and item design. 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