Testing ESL Pragmatics - Development and Validation of a Web-Based Assessment Battery

Although second language learners' pragmatic competence (their ability to use language in context) is an essential part of their general communicative competence, it has not been a part of second language tests. This book helps fill this gap by describing the development and validation of a web-based test of ESL pragmalinguistics. The instrument assesses learners' knowledge of routine formulae, speech acts, and implicature in 36 multiple-choice and brief-response items. The test's quantitative and qualitative validation with 300 learners showed high reliability and provided strong evidence of the instrument's construct validity. Its web-based format makes it easy to administer and score. The book ends with a discussion of future research directions in assessing second language pragmatics.

List of contents

Contents: Interlanguage pragmatics - Second language assessment and web-based testing - Assessment of second language pragmatics - Quantitative validation of a test of ESL pragmatics: group comparisons, correlational techniques, IRT - Qualitative validation with verbal protocols - Threats to construct validity - Future research in testing L2 pragmatic competence.

Product details

• Authors: Carsten Röver
• Publisher: Peter Lang
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 31.07.2016
• EAN: 9783631528365
• ISBN: 978-3-631-52836-5
• No. of pages: 160
• Dimensions: 148 mm x 9 mm x 210 mm
• Weight: 230 g
• Series: Language Testing and Evaluation; Language Testing and Evaluation
• Subject: Humanities, art, music > Linguistics and literary studies > General and comparative linguistics