Prof. Byron Gong
English Department, Soochow University, Taiwan, China
Title: Critical Analysis of Bachman and Palmer’s AUA Test Model —— from the perspective of language ability and language competence
Abstract:
Although many a researcher would agree that test performance is the reflection of a testee’s language competence, it is still a question for some test designers, under the enormous influence of Bachman and Palmer’s latest test model (AUA--Assessment Use Argument, 2010), to wonder whether they should focus on designing a test that assesses a testee’s linguistic competence or language ability. This paper presents a critical analysis of the notion of “language ability” in Bachman and Palmer’s AUA test model. Their definition of “language ability” is psycholinguistic, and some people confusingly call it “language ability” due to the divergence of terminology used in the AUA test model. This paper discusses the limitations of the “language ability” in the AUA test model which is under the influence of Chomsky’s psycholinguistic concept of first language competence. It is important to realize that the validation of standardized EFL testing should be more linked with the observable test performance, i.e. language proficiency, rather than the psycholinguistic “competence or ability” in terms of the AUA test model. Empirically, an analysis of the test scores of English-major students at a university in Taiwan is presented to consolidate the writer’s claim. This paper argues that the AUA test model is not applicable to large-scale standardized testing, although it could be thought-provoking regarding classroom assessment.
Keywords: language ability, competence, AUA test model, language testing
Biography:
Professor Byron Gong, at English Department, Soochow University, Taiwan, is much experienced in language assessment and TEFL. He obtained his M.A. and Ph.D. at Lancaster University in the UK in 1989 and 1996, and did post-doctoral research at the University of California, Berkeley, California. His research is mainly about standardized language testing and TEFL, especially functional validation of standardized foreign language testing at university level, and his research papers were presented at various international conferences, including IAEA and AALA.Four times he was invited to present his papers at International Association for Educational Assessment, and to be a chair at a session of the IAEA Conference. The last time was 2018 when he was invited to present his paper at the 2018 IAEA Annual Conference held at Oxford University in the UK. He was also invited to give speeches at National Research Center for Foreign Language Education at Beijing Foreign Studies University, China. Professor Gong has presented more than 30 papers, and one of which won the Best Paper Award at the (2010) 19thInternational Symposium on English Teaching(ETA) in Taiwan.