McNamara chapter 2 reaction

McNamara chapter 2 reaction: communication and the design of language tests

In reading this chapter, I realized that in all these years I’ve been teaching, I have never questioned or thought about the test itself and why and how they were put together. I am glad that the chapter starts out in explaining how the design of language tests have evolved from Lado’s (1961) mastery of features (discreet point testing) to Canale & Swain’s (1980’s) communicative competencies; grammatical, sociolinguistic, strategic, and discourse. I observed in reading this chapter, language tests went from individual sections of language learning to trying to include all areas of language learning – cognitive to social influences/settings. I learned that depending on the test and the criterion, the results are always interpreted differently, depending on the test designers and I got to thinking, the location of where the test design was being developed had or has to make a difference.