{"title":"商业第二语言听力测试的主题和口音覆盖:对考生身份的影响","authors":"Vahid Aryadoust","doi":"10.1093/applin/amad062","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Abstract I analyzed a corpus of the international English language testing system (IELTS) comprising 256 listening sections (1996–2021). The primary objective of the study was to gain insights into the assumptions made by test designers regarding the real-life contexts that test-takers will encounter. Overall, 15 superordinate topic areas and 300 subtopics were identified in the corpus. There was relatively more diversity in topic coverage before 2000. However, the test did not incorporate texts that would address sociocultural matters related to local or international contexts. Additionally, English-as-L2 accents were virtually unrepresented with only three samples from 514 speakers, potentially suggesting a racialized perspective on the listening construct. I argue that it is possible that this way of testing promotes and normalizes test designers’ ideologies, while overlooking the importance of the diversity of domains that test-takers will encounter in daily life. I discuss the potential construction of test-takers’ identity through exposure to these topics and suggest that test designers may consider reevaluating topic and accent coverage in the test to improve fairness and equity in the test. Finally, I provide ideas on how the use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) can enhance quality of language assessments.","PeriodicalId":48234,"journal":{"name":"Applied Linguistics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.6000,"publicationDate":"2023-09-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":"{\"title\":\"Topic and Accent Coverage in a Commercialized L2 Listening Test: Implications for Test-takers’ Identity\",\"authors\":\"Vahid Aryadoust\",\"doi\":\"10.1093/applin/amad062\",\"DOIUrl\":null,\"url\":null,\"abstract\":\"Abstract I analyzed a corpus of the international English language testing system (IELTS) comprising 256 listening sections (1996–2021). The primary objective of the study was to gain insights into the assumptions made by test designers regarding the real-life contexts that test-takers will encounter. Overall, 15 superordinate topic areas and 300 subtopics were identified in the corpus. There was relatively more diversity in topic coverage before 2000. However, the test did not incorporate texts that would address sociocultural matters related to local or international contexts. Additionally, English-as-L2 accents were virtually unrepresented with only three samples from 514 speakers, potentially suggesting a racialized perspective on the listening construct. I argue that it is possible that this way of testing promotes and normalizes test designers’ ideologies, while overlooking the importance of the diversity of domains that test-takers will encounter in daily life. I discuss the potential construction of test-takers’ identity through exposure to these topics and suggest that test designers may consider reevaluating topic and accent coverage in the test to improve fairness and equity in the test. Finally, I provide ideas on how the use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) can enhance quality of language assessments.\",\"PeriodicalId\":48234,\"journal\":{\"name\":\"Applied Linguistics\",\"volume\":null,\"pages\":null},\"PeriodicalIF\":3.6000,\"publicationDate\":\"2023-09-22\",\"publicationTypes\":\"Journal Article\",\"fieldsOfStudy\":null,\"isOpenAccess\":false,\"openAccessPdf\":\"\",\"citationCount\":\"0\",\"resultStr\":null,\"platform\":\"Semanticscholar\",\"paperid\":null,\"PeriodicalName\":\"Applied Linguistics\",\"FirstCategoryId\":\"1085\",\"ListUrlMain\":\"https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amad062\",\"RegionNum\":1,\"RegionCategory\":\"文学\",\"ArticlePicture\":[],\"TitleCN\":null,\"AbstractTextCN\":null,\"PMCID\":null,\"EPubDate\":\"\",\"PubModel\":\"\",\"JCR\":\"Q1\",\"JCRName\":\"LINGUISTICS\",\"Score\":null,\"Total\":0}","platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Applied Linguistics","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amad062","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"LINGUISTICS","Score":null,"Total":0}
Topic and Accent Coverage in a Commercialized L2 Listening Test: Implications for Test-takers’ Identity
Abstract I analyzed a corpus of the international English language testing system (IELTS) comprising 256 listening sections (1996–2021). The primary objective of the study was to gain insights into the assumptions made by test designers regarding the real-life contexts that test-takers will encounter. Overall, 15 superordinate topic areas and 300 subtopics were identified in the corpus. There was relatively more diversity in topic coverage before 2000. However, the test did not incorporate texts that would address sociocultural matters related to local or international contexts. Additionally, English-as-L2 accents were virtually unrepresented with only three samples from 514 speakers, potentially suggesting a racialized perspective on the listening construct. I argue that it is possible that this way of testing promotes and normalizes test designers’ ideologies, while overlooking the importance of the diversity of domains that test-takers will encounter in daily life. I discuss the potential construction of test-takers’ identity through exposure to these topics and suggest that test designers may consider reevaluating topic and accent coverage in the test to improve fairness and equity in the test. Finally, I provide ideas on how the use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) can enhance quality of language assessments.
期刊介绍:
Applied Linguistics publishes research into language with relevance to real-world problems. The journal is keen to help make connections between fields, theories, research methods, and scholarly discourses, and welcomes contributions which critically reflect on current practices in applied linguistic research. It promotes scholarly and scientific discussion of issues that unite or divide scholars in applied linguistics. It is less interested in the ad hoc solution of particular problems and more interested in the handling of problems in a principled way by reference to theoretical studies.