A Language Testing Handbook

No book in a field as wide and complex as language testing could hope to be exhaustive, but Don Porter's aims to be the most comprehensive to date. It surveys all the major issues in the field, relating them to a wide range of test techniques, with due concern for both theory and practise. Dr. Porter also gives a detailed treatment of test statistics, a feature (curiously) absent from other language testing textbooks. Dr. Porter provides both a general background to the subject, and clear and insightful accounts of central notions, such as validity, reliability, and practicability. Of particular benefit to the reader, is an extensive section on test techniques, from those appropriate for testing listening comprehension, to those designed for reading, writing, and the integrated sequences of activities. Rounding off with a practical guide to crucial aspects of test development, and a brief review of some major tests, this aims to be the clearest, and the most wide-ranging book on the subject.