Abstract
Contrary to what the title might suggest, the main focus of this volume is post-entry academic language assessments (otherwise known as ‘PELAs’), designed to identify language learning needs for university study, rather than ELP admission tests such as IELTS or TOEFL. Although there are some examples from other majority English speaking countries (Chapter 4), the focus is overwhelmingly on post-entry academic language assessment in Australia and New Zealand, reflecting the intense activity in this area in the region over the past decade as well as the author’s own interests and expertise.
Chapter 1 provides a historical overview of the phenomenon of NESB students studying in English-medium universities, thereby setting up the context for post-entry English language assessment. This group includes international and immigrant first-generation (Generation 1.5) students in English majority countries as well as students enrolled in English-medium universities in countries, such as Malaysia, where English is not the main language. Discussion of the latter contexts includes an overview of the debates surrounding the use of English as an international language.
The next two chapters provide detailed descriptions of post-entry language assessment in Australia (Chapter 2) and New Zealand (Chapter 3) respectively, while Chapter 4 provides briefer descriptions of activity in other countries (specifically South Africa, Canada, Hong Kong, and the United States).
The first part of Chapter 2 focuses on the development and implementation of the Diagnostic English Language Assessment (DELA) by the Language Testing Research Centre (LTRC) at the University of Melbourne. This is appropriate given the University’s acknowledged leadership in this area, with work on DELA dating from the early 1990s. Widespread concerns regarding students’ capacity to cope with the language demands of their studies (despite having met the relevant ELP entry requirements) have been fuelled by the broadening of participation to a wider range of students as well as an increasing dependence on international student fees. However, interest in post-entry language assessment failed to gain much traction beyond the University of Melbourne until the appearance of a controversial report on the ELP levels of graduating international students (Birrell, 2006). The ensuing flurry of activity gained further momentum with the announcement of an audit of ELP assessment and development procedures by the Tertiary Education Quality Standards Agency (TEQSA).
The second part of the chapter reports on two national surveys of post-entry language assessment and development procedures. It is interesting that despite the availability of high-quality, professionally designed instruments, the findings revealed a widespread preference first for internally developed procedures driven by Academic Language and Learning teachers (as opposed to language assessment professionals), and second for discipline-specific early assessment tasks embedded in curricula as opposed to generic, university-wide procedures, such as DELA. Also, the chapter documents ongoing issues with PELAs, including uptake by targeted groups even when assessment is mandated, and the philosophical conflict between mandating assessment and the principle of student autonomy, which is revisited in Chapter 8.
Chapter 3 describes the New Zealand derivative of DELA, the Diagnostic English Language Needs Assessment (DELNA) program at the University of Auckland. A key distinction with DELA is that DELNA was designed to cater to all students, regardless of background. The first part of DELNA comprises a short screening test, used to exempt ‘proficient’ students from the more resource-intensive diagnostic test (DELA). Finally, the diagnostic test results are used to provide students with individual counselling and advice about a range of language enhancement options, including credit-bearing subjects for students identified as ‘at risk’. As with DELA, DELNA has been the subject of a substantial body of research, prompting the claim that it is “perhaps the best documented language program of its kind” (xiv).
The DELNA program was first introduced by Cathie Elder (also a director of the LTRC for many years) during her time with the Department of Applied Language Studies at Auckland University. What followed has been two decades of collaboration and exchange (of both ideas and personnel) between the LTRC and University of Auckland. It should not be surprising then that the book was originally conceived as a collaboration with Cathie Elder, who is credited with having significant involvement in the development of the original proposal as well as in writing two of the chapters.
The second half of the book has a more ‘applied’ focus compared to the more descriptive nature of the earlier chapters. Chapter 5 presents the case for introducing a PELA and identifies a number of alternative goals and solutions. Also, it picks up on some of the issues identified in the previous chapters such as defining the target cohort and questions around whether assessment should be mandated or voluntary. It also emphasizes the need for the assessment to be situated within a broader program of ELP development options.
Chapters 6 and 7 consider different approaches to defining and assessing the two alternative constructs informing PELA design: academic language and academic literacy. In Chapter 6, the constructs of academic language ‘proficiency’ and ‘competence’ are explored in relation to how they have been operationalized in a number of well-known current and former selection tests over a 50-year period.
While the primary focus of academic language PELAs has been NESB students and international students, in particular, there is broad recognition that many (if not most) students, regardless of their language background, arrive at a university without the academic language and literacy skills they will need to succeed in their studies. Chapter 7 explores alternative characterizations of the construct of academic literacy or literacies. There is detailed discussion of the Measurement of Academic Skills of University Students (MASUS) procedure (introduced in Chapter 2), developed by the University of Sydney, which construes academic literacy as discipline-specific and context-embedded, as opposed to a set of generic skills. Chapter 7 also provides an overview of ‘critical’ perspectives including the debates surrounding the use of ‘standard’ versus world Englishes and different cultural understandings of concepts such as plagiarism. Also, this chapter includes a brief discussion of the assessment of ‘professional communication’ and the trend towards ELP exit testing of graduate students in disciplines, such as engineering and healthcare, as a condition of professional registration.
Chapter 8 revisits Alderson’s (2005) definition of diagnostic assessment to consider the extent to which PELAs can be considered diagnostic. However, the examples discussed are not necessarily related to higher education. These include tests of pronunciation (Prator & Robinett, 1972), vocabulary (Nation, 1983, 1990), grammar (Green & Weir, 2004), and the Cognitive Diagnostic Assessment (e.g. Lee & Sawaki, 2009). There is also a discussion of the diagnostic potential of speeded tests (e.g. Alderson & Huhta, 2011). While noting that the thinking around this concept is still evolving, the author concludes by suggesting that for a test to be considered diagnostic, it should involve a more detailed assessment than typically provided by placement tests.
The focus of the last two chapters is test design and validation. Chapter 9 provides an overview of some of the design options for those interested in developing an academic English assessment and covers computer-based options, the process of test development, alternative test formats, and constructs.
The final chapter draws on Knoch and Elder’s (2013) model for generating validity arguments for PELAs to develop a validity argument for DELNA. Following Kane (1992), the author considers the consequences of DELNA in terms of enhancing students’ chances of academic success as well as its validity as a measure of academic language.
It is likely that different sections of this book will appeal to slightly different audiences. For example, decision-makers considering the introduction of a PELA in their own institution would benefit from the discussion of existing instruments provided in Chapters 2 and 3 as well as the case for introducing a PELA (Chapter 5). Those charged with developing their own assessments, on the other hand, might be more interested in the discussion of the alternative constructs of language and literacy (Chapters 6 and 7) and the more practical orientation of Chapters 9 and 10. Language testing professionals, on the other hand, will be interested in the historical overview, the interplay of policy and practice, and the breadth of responses to a shared problem.
In summary, the book is informative, accessible, and remarkably up-to-date, given the pace of development in this area. It also demonstrates a detailed insider’s understanding of this area and the complexity of the issues involved.