Designing second language performance assessments

    Norris, John M.; Brown, J.D.; Hudson, Thom; & Yoshioka, Jim

    Norris, J. M. (1998). Designing second language performance assessments. Honolulu, HI: Second Language Teaching & Curriculum Center, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa.

    This technical report focuses on the decision-making potential provided by second language performance assessments. The authors first situate performance assessment within a broader discussion of alternatives in language assessment and in educational assessment in general. They then discuss issues in performance assessment design, implementation, reliability, and validity. Finally, they present a prototype framework for second language performance assessment based on the integration of theoretical underpinnings and research findings from the task-based language teaching literature, the language testing literature, and the educational measurement literature. The authors outline test and item specifications, and they present numerous examples of prototypical language tasks. They also propose a research agenda focusing on the operationalization of second language performance assessments.

    Download the table of contents and chapter one of this publication as a pdf file [156k].

    NFLRC Monographs is a refereed series sponsored by the National Foreign Language Resource Center at the University of Hawai‘i under the supervision of the series editor, Richard Schmidt. NFLRC Monographs present the findings of recent work in applied linguistics that is of relevance to language teaching and learning, with a focus on the less commonly-taught languages of Asia and the Pacific. Prior to 2006, these monographs were published as “SLTCC Technical Reports.”