32.2159, Review: English; Applied Linguistics; Sociolinguistics: Mirhosseini, De Costa (2020)

[The LINGUIST List]

LINGUIST List: Vol-32-2159. Wed Jun 23 2021. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 32.2159, Review: English; Applied Linguistics; Sociolinguistics: Mirhosseini, De Costa (2020)

Moderator: Malgorzata E. Cavar (linguist at linguistlist.org)
Student Moderator: Jeremy Coburn, Lauren Perkins
Managing Editor: Becca Morris
Team: Helen Aristar-Dry, Everett Green, Sarah Robinson, Nils Hjortnaes, Joshua Sims, Billy Dickson
Jobs: jobs at linguistlist.org | Conferences: callconf at linguistlist.org | Pubs: pubs at linguistlist.org

Homepage: http://linguistlist.org

Please support the LL editors and operation with a donation at:
           https://funddrive.linguistlist.org/donate/

Editor for this issue: Jeremy Coburn <jecoburn at linguistlist.org>
================================================================


Date: Wed, 23 Jun 2021 21:40:35
From: Shaden Attia [sattia2 at uwo.ca]
Subject: The Sociopolitics of English Language Testing

 
Discuss this message:
http://linguistlist.org/pubs/reviews/get-review.cfm?subid=36665537


Book announced at http://linguistlist.org/issues/31/31-3230.html

EDITOR: Seyyed-Abdolhamid  Mirhosseini
EDITOR: Peter  De Costa
TITLE: The Sociopolitics of English Language Testing
PUBLISHER: Bloomsbury Publishing (formerly The Continuum International Publishing Group)
YEAR: 2020

REVIEWER: Shaden Samir Attia, University of Western Ontario

SUMMARY 

Edited by Seyyed-Abdolhamid Mirhosseini and Peter I. De Costa, “The
Sociopolitics of English Language Testing” is divided into two parts and is
composed of eleven articles. The articles discuss an array of variables
related to English testing in schools, universities, and work contexts. Part
one presents five articles discussing English testing in English-speaking
countries, while Part two includes six articles tackling English testing in
non-English-speaking contexts. 

The division of the textbook and articles in this way is helpful in keeping
the readers focused on one context at a time and providing a general idea of
the situations in different countries, whether English or
non-English-speaking. In addition, in the preface, the editors offer a very
informative overview and a brief summary of the book’s content and the
different chapters.

The five chapters in part one discuss the testing situation and the use of
tests in the UK, Australia, and the US. Chapter 1, by John Yandell, Brenton
Doecke, and Zamzam Abdi, explores the General Certificate of Secondary
Education (GCSE) in London and its role and effect as a high-stakes exam and
discusses how different classroom situations s are used as a neoliberal tool
to control how students think. The article also discusses how the choice of
topics favors some groups and cultures and how such preferences shape student
identities. At the end of the article, the authors highlight how teachers and
students can counteract and fight against the neoliberal and colonial control,
encouraging them not to accept the ideas, language, and culture imposed on
them. 

In Chapter 2, Leonard Freeman and Gillian Wigglesworth analyze the relation
between school attendance and remoteness and achievement in the Northern
Territory of Australia. They critique the deficiency view of indigenous
communities and how the National Assessment program- Literacy and Numeracy
(NAPLaN) relates school attendance to student achievement. They highlight
NAPLaN’s use of a one-size-fits-all system, due to which the needs of
indigenous students living in remote areas are not addressed. They underline
the importance of modifying teaching, learning,and assessment methods to
address the needs of indigenous students, acknowledging their use of English
as a second language. 

In Chapter 3, Luis Posa and Sheila Shannon explore the US context and refer to
the deficit view towards minority students and bilingualism. They investigate
Mexican students, highlighting American schools’ use of tests which are geared
towards creating monolingual students using a curriculum that represents the
White majority and its history. They suggest ways for teachers to be more
critical and to fight against the monolingual system. They highlight how
students’ first language should be used in class, negating the false idea of
second language English students’ linguistic and cultural deficiency.

Along similar critical lines, Chapter 4,by Netta Avineri and James Perren,
discusses service-learning. This is an approach to learning by incorporating
curricular goals, learning and reflection, and community service. The study
provides a real-life example of a course for Japanese students in California
and describes the benefits of such courses in inducing critical thinking and
active involvement in the community. This chapter offers a concrete example of
being critical with students and provides a clear outline for anyone who
wishes to develop a similar course. 

The last chapter in Part one, by Jamie Schissel, returns to the idea of
deficiency and highlights the importance of providing tests that are socially
and culturally suitable for all students and the use of learners’ first
languages in testing in order for them to access both of their linguistic
repertoires. The article provides an overview of Whiteness and White supremacy
and how racism affects education and portrays learners of English as a second
language as deficient compared to their White counterparts. The author not
only provides theoretical information about the problem but offers real
examples of the use of bilingual and multilingual tasks in assessing
students,and describes the positive results of these tasks and assessments. 

The five chapters in this part offer both theoretical and practical
information on testing and assessment and propose different ideas of how to be
critical as a teacher, parent and student. The chapters connect nicely to one
another as they all discuss the idea of cultural and linguistic exclusion and
favoring the majority’s views, ideas and culture. They also provide an
overview of the role of politics, policy and governments in suppressing
minorities in different countries. 

The second part of the textbook contains 6 chapters tackling testing and
assessment in non-English speaking countries which are the Philippines, Japan,
South Korea, Oman and Nepal. The chapters offer an overview of the role
colonialism, politics and coloniality play, their relation to tests and
English proficiency, and how all these variables affect school and university
students and teachers. 

In chapter 6, Ruanni Tupas offers a somewhat detailed background on the term
coloniality and what it means and how English testing is one of its
representations in the Philippines. The article discusses the hidden agendas
behind the US aid programs in controlling, exploiting, and continuing its
colonial presence in the country. The chapter relates to the previous chapters
in areas such as the neglect of any language other than English, the idea of
nativespeakerism and suggestions for teachers and schools to fight against the
colonial presence and control imposed through tests. 

Masaki Oda in chapter 7 focuses on standardized tests and the role the media
plays in affecting the public. The chapter discusses how policy makers use the
media for their own good in order to disseminate the ideas they want and
influence the masses which serve their capitalistic goals. It further
discusses how the media highlights specific terms such as the four skills or
Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) in their articles to portray
them as important and necessary which eventually affects the readers’ view
after being frequently exposed to such terms. 

Chapter 8, moves the discussion to South Korea and Guan-Hyeok Im, Liying Chung
and Dongil Shin discuss the NEAT which is a standardized test that South Korea
designed to replace international standardized tests such as TOEFL. The
article investigated the push toward a nationally-designed exam to reduce the
national spending on private English education and to improve English
education. The authors discuss how the exam failed to replace TOEFL due to
technical difficulties, and due to the role that private education
institutions played in using the media to attack the exam to assure that their
organizations remain open and make use of parents seeking to improve their
children’s language proficiency. 

In chapter 9, Miso Kim and Mari Haneda focus on two South Korean job seekers
and their experience with standardized tests which is TOEIC and the disconnect
between the standardized test’s tasks and real-life communication. The authors
use two tasks, a test-like task and real-life task, and they use the results
to show the disconnect between tasks used for tests and communication in work
situations and how the participants’ communication reflected that disconnect.
The participants in the study noticed that disconnect but were obliged to take
the test as it is an essential step to find a job. The article also discusses
the use of tests as a gatekeeping tool and raises some excellent questions at
the end to draw readers attention to the definition of communication and the
vagueness of what communicative competence means and how it is used in tests. 

Chapter 10 is situated in Oman and Ali Al-Issa discusses the debate over the
use of IELTS for enrolling students in ELT programs and the problem of
associating good English proficiency with good teaching abilities. Al-Issa
underlines the colonial background of standardized tests and questions their
validity and he highlights their cultural bias and cultural exclusion. He
notes that this exclusion can be seen in the themes presented in the reading
section in the IELTS for example which represent Western cultures and how the
Middle East is rarely present in these readings. In addition, the article
examines student teachers in Oman and the results highlight  problems in the
validity of the IELTS, its use to determine teaching ability, and the
misleading beliefs that students have about the connection between their IELTS
results and their teaching skills. 

The final chapter in part 2 by Prem Phyak explores standardized tests in Nepal
and how they are used to privilege some and gate keep others from different
cultural and linguistic backgrounds. The article highlights the role of the
so-called “educational consultancies” in manipulating Nepali students who wish
to travel abroad by advertising for standardized tests and presenting them as
the students’ way for a better life and great future. The author underlines
how students are used as an ideological political tool by investigating the
linguistic landscape in Nepal represented in several advertisements/images
advertising for standardized tests. This article connects to the previous
articles in highlighting the colonial powers still present in
non-English-speaking countries and the commodification of standardized English
tests. 

EVALUATION

The “Sociopolitics of English Language Testing” provides a general overview of
English testing and assessment in both English and non-English-speaking
countries and is written in a  language accessible to multiple readers
including student teachers, educators, policy makers, and assessment
professionals. The division of the book into two parts, discussing the testing
situation in English-speaking and non-English speaking countries, offers both
coherence and clarity for the reader, who can easily compare the situation in
both contexts and evaluate them on the basis of the information provided. The
reader is offered multiple studies and related literature, providing enough
information to judge the testing situation and tests used. In addition, the
articles identify the research gaps that need further investigation, thereby
offering an excellent opportunity for researchers interested in testing and
assessment and making the reader aware of the paucity of literature in
specific areas. Furthermore, the articles provide suggestions for teachers,
policy makers, and assessment professionals to improve the testing situation
and encourage them to be mindful of different cultures and contexts in order
to be aware of the effects of politics and media. 

The book’s content could have been further enriched by including articles
written by policy makers and assessment professionals or test designers, as it
is important to understand their rationale for the use and design of specific
tests. In addition, providing more practical solutions for educators and test
takers would have been useful, as the book clearly explained the use of
politics and media and the role of the colonial powers in gatekeeping students
and professionals from study opportunities or jobs. However, not many tangible
and applicable solutions are offered. The researchers do provide ways for
teachers to be more critical and highlight how students and parents are
manipulated by media and politics; nevertheless, this knowledge is not
sufficient to institute changes. For this reason, case studies of schools,
universities, or companies defying the current test mechanisms would have
given the reader a taste of what can be done to make changes and the possible
results of opposing the standardized, colonial, and capitalist-oriented tests.

With respect to the organization of the different chapters, having separate
parts for English and non-English contexts provides flow and coherence;
however, another suggestion would be dividing each part into two sections,
discussing how English testing is used in job markets and how it is used in
schools and universities, as well as adding more articles on the role tests
play in the job market and how they affect job seekers. Finally, adding
articles from different countries in the Middle East would have enriched the
book, especially with regard to the job market and job requirements, and how
tests and other forms of gate-keeping are used with non-native English
speakers. 

To sum up, this book highlights an existing problem relating to English
testing. In doing so it underlines how different variables interrelate and
affect assessment and testing all over the world and the future research that
needs to be done. The book is an excellent starting point for researchers and
educators interested in testing and assessment, as well as for those who wish
to learn how to be sensitive to the long-used and accepted standardized tests
and how to bring about change. It brings a fresh and critical perspective that
merits further investigation.


ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Shaden Attia is a graduate research assistant and a PhD student at the Faculty
of Education at the University of Western Ontario. Prior to starting her PhD,
she completed a master’s degree in TESOL and a bachelor’s degree in Italian
language and literature. Her MA thesis explored Foreign Language Anxiety in
the Egyptian ESL classrooms. Her research interests include applied
linguistics, TESOL, Second Language Acquisition, adult education and social
justice in the field of education. She aspires to teach in a university
setting after graduation and to continue her research in education and applied
linguistics.





------------------------------------------------------------------------------

***************************    LINGUIST List Support    ***************************
 The 2020 Fund Drive is under way! Please visit https://funddrive.linguistlist.org
  to find out how to donate and check how your university, country or discipline
     ranks in the fund drive challenges. Or go directly to the donation site:
                   https://crowdfunding.iu.edu/the-linguist-list

                        Let's make this a short fund drive!
                Please feel free to share the link to our campaign:
                    https://funddrive.linguistlist.org/donate/
 


----------------------------------------------------------
LINGUIST List: Vol-32-2159	
----------------------------------------------------------