Transnational English Language Assessment Practices in the Age of Metrics

This edited volume examines how transnational English language assessment practices are envisioned, enacted, and justified by different stakeholders, including students, teachers, and universities in different geographical contexts, and what would be the multi-level consequences of such practices. Bringing together diverse perspectives from across the Global South and Global North, the book argues that the field of English language assessment has always been transnational, despite an absence of a research that explicitly examines English language assessment practices in relation to transnationalism. The contribution of this volume lies in filling in this critical scholarly gap. Through a wide set of epistemological, theoretical, and pedagogical interventions along with methodological orientations and analytical frameworks, the chapter authors question the social, economic, political, linguistic, and pedagogical consequences of transnational English language assessment practices in higher education (HE) settings and contexts. Offering fresh perspectives on English language assessment practices in relation to transnationalism, this book will be of great interest to researchers, academics, and post-graduate students in the fields of applied linguistics, Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL), and language assessment more broadly.

Osman Z. Barnawi is Professor of Language and Education at the Royal Commission for Yanbu Colleges and Institutes, Saudi Arabia. Mohammed S. Alharbi is Assistant Professor of TESOL/Applied Linguistics at the English Language Institute of King Abdul Aziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Ayman A. Alzahrani is Assistant Professor of TESOL/Applied Linguistics at the English Language Institute of King Abdul Aziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

1. Introduction Part I: Historical and theoretical foundations 2. Researching English language assessment practices in a transnational world: Critical review and outlook 3. Valorizing cultural and linguistic capital through assessment practices in tertiary transnational contexts 4. English language assessment in a transnational world : A theory-into-practice approach Part II: English language assessment and issues of power, identity, and knowledge in a transnational context 5. English language assessment as a technology for shaping transnational students' academic identity in the Arabian Gulf higher education market 6. E-portfolio assessment as a space to reconstruct teacher candidates' identities and knowledge in a transnational context 7. Transnational English language teachers' assessment practices in higher education TESOL landscape Part III: Transnational assessment in English writing skills 8. Genre-based writing classroom assessment: Pedagogically responsive classroom assessment practices for transnational L2 contexts 9. Promoting and assessing knowledge building in the writing of English-medium instruction students 10. Investment and praxis in asset-based assessment: Exploring transnational identity and perspectives for academic English writing pedagogy Part IV: Assessment in English medium instruction programs in a transnational context 11. The elephant in the room: Language assessment in English-medium education in multilingual university settings 12. Neoliberal ideologies in teaching and assessing ESP legal English: A case study from the Middle East 13. Language learning assessment and transnationalism in central Philippine higher educational institutions 14. Transnationalism in relation to English assessment practices in central Philippine senior high schools 15. Current trends and future directions in English language assessment practices in the transnational world: A synthesis of recent research. Language Assessment, Alternative Perspectives, and Speaking Back