247 / 2018-04-15 20:20:50

Whose Standard Is It? Redefinition of Standardized Tests for ELF Users

English as Lingua Franca, Language Assessment

全体主题 > Principles and methodology of developing standards for language assessment

The idea of English as a lingua franca (ELF) has aroused heated discussion recently. A great number of researchers are questioning the notion of “standard” use of English. They propose that the conceptualization of “standard” is heavily dependent on a set of criteria created by a relatively small number of English users. Crystal (2003), based on Kachru’s (1992) model of Concentric circles, estimate that about 500 to 1000 million people in expanding circle treat English as a medium of international communication (EIL) while English speakers in inner and outer circles are only around 620 to 880 million. Beneke (1991) further indicates that about 80 percent of communication conducted in English is among non-native English speakers. Furthermore, researchers also examine the impact of the prevalence of standardized tests. The dominance of these tests such as TOEFL and IELTS as the benchmark to assess one’s English abilities enhances the established role Standard English plays worldwide. They influence what students want to learn and teachers intend to teach. What’s more, they not only “stultify the expansion of local varieties” (Canagarajah, 2006, p. 236), but also “affect teachers’ attitude towards and beliefs about NNS English varieties” (Jenkins, p. 242). However, despite the overwhelming figures in ELF scenarios and the washback effects of standardized tests, any deviation from this so-called “Standard English” is still deemed as “interlanguage” or “fossilization” (Jenkins, 2007). The status of EIL/ELF seems vague and remains unstable.
To bridge gap between ELF and its current status in standardized tests, the present research intends to propose an analytic scoring scheme for standardized tests in expanding circle. The scoring scheme includes three scales of intelligibility, transparency and appropriateness. First, mutual intelligibility is a fundamental element in the development of communication. The scale can examine the extent to which encoded messages are interpretable and precisely decoded by interlocutors. Secondly, contrary to idiomatic expressions found in Standard English, the scale of language transparency values how content can be effectively expressed to reach the intended communicative function, which can cater to ELF users’ needs of economical communication and avoid the opaque language use imposed by one specific culture.
Thirdly, appropriateness refers to test takers’ ability to make the proper response in the context they encounter. The functional requirements, to certain degree, depend on interlocutors’ language appropriacy to the context. Appropriateness, in the sense, serves as a new parameter to judge one’s “correct” use of English.
The proposed scoring scheme for ELF standardized tests is by no means a placement of any existing rating scales. Rather, it acts as an alternative for ELF users to assess their communicative ability in expanding circle. It is also an initiative to create a scoring system that is truly “standard” to all English users.