
Comprehensibility in Language Assessment
A Broader Perspective
Equinox Publishing Ltd
Will be published approx. on 13. February 2024
Book
Paperback/Softback
224 pages
978-1-80050-433-2 (ISBN)
Description
Comprehensibility, or the extent to which a listener understands L2 speakers' spoken output/performance, is a fundamentally important aspect of communication, and a construct the language testing discipline has been interested in for a few decades. Comprehensibility is considered central to successful communication as it highlights the listener's perceptions of the level of difficulty involved in understanding a speaker. Despite the crucial role it plays in communication and the contribution it makes towards the assessment of spoken language ability, comprehensibility has mostly been assessed holistically in language tests, if at all, with little reference to an analytic framework in which comprehensibility can be objectively analysed and reliably assessed.
This lack is addressed in this research-oriented and evidence-based monograph which provides an analytic framework for understanding, defining and assessing comprehensibility. The authors argue that conceptualising comprehensibility as a multidimensional construct and adopting a broader perspective to understanding and analysing it for communication purposes would benefit the fields of second language assessment and second language acquisition.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 12 mm
Weight
348 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-80050-433-2 (9781800504332)
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Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Parvaneh Tavakoli is a Professor of Applied Linguistics at the University of Reading. Parvaneh's main research interest lies in the interface of second language acquisition, language teaching, and language testing. Parvaneh has led several international research projects investigating the effects of task and task design on performance, acquisition, assessment and policy in different contexts. Her research has been published in prestigious peer-reviewed journals and books.