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Video-conferencing speaking tests: an investigation of context validity related to test administration

Research Output:
Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
Chapter
 Peer-review

Open access

Abstract

Face-to-face speaking assessment provides the benefit of eliciting a broad interactional construct, but at the cost of being logistically complex, resource-intensive and difficult to manage. Advances in video-conferencing (VC) technology now make it possible to engage in online interaction more successfully than previously, thus reducing dependence upon physical proximity between the examiner-interlocutor and the candidate(s). It is therefore not surprising that such technology is seen as a valuable assessment tool in geographically remote and politically unstable areas of the world, or indeed in contexts affected by the social distancing required during the recent Covid-19 pandemic. However, the administrative conditions under which the test takes place, one of the key contextual parameters of the VC-delivered test, , is often overlooked, despite its potentially significant influence on candidates’ performance and therefore overall test validity (Weir 2005). In this chapter, we report on investigations into administrative features of a VC-delivered high-stakes speaking test, including aspects of examiner behaviour and the effectiveness of examiner training for the VC test delivery. The chapter ends with a discussion of how administrative settings and the management of speaking tests play a key role in ensuring the context validity of VC speaking tests. It also offers suggestions for the operationalisation of a VC IELTS Speaking test, as well as broader implications for test administration and examiner training in other VC tests.

Publication Information

Output type

Research Output:
Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
Chapter
 Peer-review

Original language

English

Pages from-to (Number of pages)

Pages 229-250

Publication milestones

  • Published - 31/10/2024

Publication status

Published - 31/10/2024

Place of publication

Cambridge, UK

Volume

52

Publisher

Cambridge University Press and Assessment

Publication series

  • Publication series name: Studies in Language Testing
    Number: 52

ISBN (Print)

9781108931908

Publication IDs

  • handle.net: 10547/626438
  • ORCID: /0000-0003-1927-6923/work/177832359

Host publication title

Language testing and validation in a digital age

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