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Embracing multimodality to overhaul assessment of English for Academic Purposes: task design and validation

Research Output: Contribution to journal Article Peer-review

Abstract

In response to the increasing importance of multimodal communication in the academic target language use (TLU) domain and the expanding construct of English for academic purposes (EAP) skills, the current study proposes a multimodal EAP test. The study consists of three stages: (i) construct definition, (ii) design of a digital multimodal test, and (iii) empirical validation. The research questions address the extent to which the new test design reflects the construct of multimodal EAP skills in relation to two aspects: language functions (as evidenced in test takers’ performance) and the perspectives of test takers and examiners. The findings showed that 79% of the target multimodal EAP language functions were observed in the dataset. This indicates that multimodality can be successfully operationalised in EAP assessment with a cumulative, thematically-linked multimodal test design. The new design goes beyond what is typically operationalised by traditional independent skill-based tests and/or linear integrated language tests. The observation checklist developed can be used to help indicate the construct elicited by multimodal EAP assessments. Implications of the findings for the operationalisation of multimodal EAP constructs in large-scale assessment are discussed.

Publication Information

Output type

Research Output: Contribution to journal Article Peer-review

Original language

English

Pages from-to (Number of pages)

Pages 460-483 (24 pages)

Journal (Volume, Issue Number)

Language Assessment Quarterly (Volume 22, Issue 4-5)

Publication milestones

  • Published - 29/12/2025

Publication status

Published - 29/12/2025

ISSN

1543-4303

External Publication IDs

  • Scopus: 105026179410

Access to documents

Chan et al_2025_LAQ_Embracing Multimodality to Overhaul Assessment of English for Academic Purposes_authors copy
Accepted author manuscript, 569.93 KB
Access to file: Embargo ends 29/06/2027

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