This book combines insights from language assessment literacy and critical language testing through critical analyses and research about challenges in language assessment around the world. It investigates problematic practices in language testing which are relevant to language test users such as language program directors, testing centers, and language teachers, as well as teachers-in-training in Graduate Diploma and Master of Arts in Applied Linguistics programs. These issues involve aspects of language testing such as test development, test administration, scoring, and interpretation/use of test results. Chapters in this volume discuss insights about language testing policy, testing world languages, developing program-level language tests and tests of specific language skills, and language assessment literacy. In addition, this book identifies two needs in language testing for further examination: the need for collaboration between language test developers, language test users, and language users, and the need to base language tests on real-world language use.

This book combines insights from language assessment literacy and critical language testing through critical analyses and research about challenges in language assessment around the world. It investigates problematic practices in language testing which are relevant to language test users such as language program directors, testing centers, and language teachers, as well as teachers-in-training in Graduate Diploma and Master of Arts in Applied Linguistics programs. These issues involve aspects of language testing such as test development, test administration, scoring, and interpretation/use of test results. Chapters in this volume discuss insights about language testing policy, testing world languages, developing program-level language tests and tests of specific language skills, and language assessment literacy. In addition, this book identifies two needs in language testing for further examination: the need for collaboration between language test developers, language test users, and language users, and the need to base language tests on real-world language use.

Many English tests/textbooks based on Western culture are often irrelevant or inappropriate for non-Western regions, yet English instruction in such regions should be based on real world English use. Therefore, this research describes 1042 tasks of non-Western English in home regions of 29 English teachers from Uganda/Kenya, Sudan, the Arabian Gulf, Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan, India, and the Philippines. Cross-cultural evaluation via confirmation survey with member checks categorized the tasks of reading/writing/speaking/ listening in home/work/school/community domains. Analysis indicates tasks culturally appropriate in all but 1-2 regions and tasks problematic in more than half. Participant language choice was influenced by country/politics, religion, geography/climate, socioeconomics, region, strong emotions, and language policy in government/school. The task descriptions of non-Western English, cross-cultural evaluation and discussion of language choice are useful to professionals in task-based test/instructional materials development and world Englishes. This project also presents cross-cultural challenges of sociolinguistic research in the Middle East during the Iraq war.