On topic validity in speaking tests

Abstract

Topics are often used as a key speech elicitation method in performance-based assessments of spoken language, and yet the validity and fairness issues surrounding topics are surprisingly under-researched. Are different topics ‘equivalent’ or ‘parallel’? Can some topics bias against or favour individuals or groups of individuals? Does background knowledge of topics have an impact on performance? Might the content of test taker speech affect their scores – and perhaps more importantly, should it? Grounded in the real-world assessment context of IELTS, this volume draws on original data as well as insights from empirical and theoretical research to address these questions against the backdrop of one of the world’s most high-stakes language tests. This volume provides:

* an up-to-date review of theoretical and empirical literature related to topic and background knowledge effects on second language performance * an accessible and systematic description of a mixed methods research study with explanations of design, analysis, and interpretation considerations at every stage * a comprehensive and coherent approach for building a validity argument in a given assessment context. The volume also contributes to critiques of recent models of communicative competence with an over-reliance on linguistic features at the expense of more complex aspects of communication, by arguing for an expansion of current definitions of the speaking construct emphasising the role of content of speech as an important – yet often neglected – feature.