PURSUING AUTHENTICITY IN ESP TESTING - THE NEED FOR INTERDISCIPLINARY COLLABORATION

Lan Luo

DOI Number
https://doi.org/10.22190/JTESAP1902159L
First page
159
Last page
169

Abstract


Authenticity is the primary factor affecting test validity in ESP (English for Specific Purposes) test. While ensuring the authenticity of test tasks, pursuing authenticity in assessment criteria has received more and more attention. Studies have shown that experts in the professional field use different assessment criteria when assessing candidates’ communicative competence in a particular professional context. It is certainly the case that the construct of communicative competence informing practice in language testing is different from the views of communication informing the communication literature in the professional setting, and hence the views of educators in that field. Rapprochement between these two perspectives is clearly desirable. This paper reviews the history and development of ESP testing, emphasizes the necessity of balancing the different scoring views between linguists and professional experts from the perspective of EMP (English for Medical Purposes) oral test, and discusses the implication of pursuing authenticity in ESP testing as well as ESP teaching.

Keywords

ESP testing, authenticity, assessment criteria

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References


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DOI: https://doi.org/10.22190/JTESAP1902159L

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