The Sociopolitics of English Language Testing

Highlighting marginalized but significant perspectives about the sociopolitical essence of English language tests and testing processes worldwide, this book explores the social considerations of testing theories and practices from a critical perspective. Investigating concerns surrounding power inequalities, The Sociopolitics of English Language Testing takes a socially-situated view of language assessment, bringing sociopolitical understandings of language teaching, learning, and assessment to the forefront in the field.

Within the broader discussion of the politics of test use, an international team of language and education experts address the issues of ideology, diversity, power, and dominance in English language testing. Through socially-sensitive theoretical as well as empirical discussion and investigation of English language testing, this book offers valuable insights, not only to applied linguists and the language education community who have focused on positivistic and cognitively-oriented conceptions of language testing, but to anyone who wishes to venture beyond the traditional bounds of the field.

“This timely volume answers the urgent call for studies of the impact of language testing regimes in contexts throughout the world. It reveals the need for language assessment research to engage more fully with the social, political and ideological contexts in which language assessments are implemented, in particular as a tool of globalization.” —Tim McNamara, Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor Emeritus, The University of Melbourne, Australia

“Mirhosseini and De Costa have brought together a fascinating collection of chapters, providing rich, critical insights into the ideological and political nature of language testing practices in different contexts across the world. The studies presented here broaden perceptions of what language testing research might look like and raise fundamental questions about where the field needs to go next.” —Luke Harding, Professor of Linguistics and English Language, Lancaster University, UK