Susy Macqueen

Test Review: Review of the Certificate of Proficiency in English (CPE) Speaking Test.

In 2002 the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate (UCLES) implemented a revised version of the Certificate of Proficiency in English (CPE). CPE, which is the highest level of the Main Suite of Cambridge ESOL exams, comprises five modules, Reading, Writing, Use of English, Listening and Speaking, the latter of which is the focus of this review. Among the innovations introduced in the revised CPE exam were the introduction of a paired speaking format with two candidates and two examiners, revised tasks including a collaborative task carried out by the candidates together, a script for the participating examiner to follow and revised assessment scales.

Language test as boundary object : Perspectives from test users in the healthcare domain

Objects that sit between intersecting social worlds, such as Language for Specific Purposes (LSP) tests, are boundary objects – dynamic, historically derived mechanisms which maintain coherence between worlds (Star & Griesemer, 1989). They emerge initially from sociopolitical mandates, such as the need to ensure a safe and efficient workforce or to control immigration, and they develop into standards (i.e. stabilized classifying mechanisms). In this article, we explore the concept of LSP test as boundary object through a qualitative case study of the Occupational English Test (OET), a test which assesses the English proficiency of healthcare professionals who wish to practise in English-speaking healthcare contexts. Stakeholders with different types of vested interest in the test were interviewed (practising doctors and nurses who have taken the test, management staff, professional board representatives) to capture multiple perspectives of both the test-taking experience and the relevance of the test to the workplace. The themes arising from the accumulated stakeholder perceptions depict a ‘boundary object’ that encompasses a work-readiness level of language proficiency on the one hand and aspects of communication skills for patient-centred care on the other. We argue that the boundary object metaphor is useful in that it represents a negotiation over the adequacy and effects of a test standard for all vested social worlds. Moreover, the test should benefit the worlds it interconnects, not just in terms of the impact on the learning opportunities it offers candidates, but also the impact such learning carries into key social sites, such as healthcare workplaces.

Emergence in second language writing: a methodological inroad

Complex Systems Theory (CST) has been called upon in many different fields as a means of examining phenomena in a way that makes interconnectivity and emergence central to research. For applied linguistics, CST offers the possibility of encompassing both language and learning. In doing so, the theoretical orientation needs to be fully integrated into the research process through research methodology. This paper describes a qualitative microethnographic method, Lexical Trail Analysis, which draws on the concept of emergence. It is an analytic method that enables us to see the longitudinal development of words and their patterns. It is applied here in a case study of the development of one second language users lexicogrammatical patterns (formulaic sequences, collocations, idioms, etc.). Her word patterns are traced as she prepares for a university entrance test and later, once she enters the university. Her use of patterns involves adaptive imitation, a complex process of perceiving, imitating and adapting patterns to suit new communicative goals.

The impact of national standardized literacy and numeracy testing on children and teaching staff in remote Australian Indigenous communities

All educational testing is intended to have consequences, which are assumed to be beneficial, but tests may also have unintended, negative consequences (Messick, 1989). The issue is particularly important in the case of large-scale standardized tests, such as Australia’s National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN), the intended benefits of which are increased accountability and improved educational outcomes. The NAPLAN purpose is comparable to that of other state and national ‘core skills’ testing programs, which evaluate cross-sections of populations in order to compare results between population sub-groupings. Such comparisons underpin ‘accountability’ in the era of population-level testing. This study investigates the impact of NAPLAN testing on one population grouping that is prominent in the NAPLAN results’ comparisons and public reporting: children in remote Indigenous communities. A series of interviews with principals and teachers documents informants’ first-hand experiences of the use and effects of NAPLAN in schools. In the views of most participants, the language and content of the test instruments, the nature of the test engagement, and the test washback have negative impacts on students and staff, with little benefit in terms of the usefulness of the test data. The primary issue is the fact that meaningful participation in the tests depends critically on proficiency in Standard Australian English (SAE) as a first language. This study contributes to the broader discussion of how reform-targeted standardized testing for national populations affects sub-groups who are not treated equitably by the test instrument or reporting for accountability purposes. It highlights a conflict between consequential validity and the notion of accountability that drives reform-targeted testing.

A resource for teaching emergency care communication.

Communication in emergency departments (EDs), often between several health professionals and patients and relatives, is a major cause of patient complaint and error; however, communication‐skills teaching for medical students largely focuses on individual clinician–patient interactions.