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Chapter 12. Pragmatics in task-based language assessment

Opportunities and challenges

Abstract

Several researchers have pointed out synergies between task-based language assessment (TBLA) and L2 pragmatics assessment, insofar as both domains are based on a concern for effective communication in context (Kim & Taguchi, 2015; Norris, 2016; Timpe-Laughlin, Wain, & Schmidgall, 2015). It is therefore surprising that very little research has been carried out on pragmatics in TBLA. Kim and Taguchi (2015), for example, highlighted that “[p]ragmatics has been a particularly underinvestigated area of task-based research” (p. 660), both in teaching and assessment – a paradox given that the task-based assessment paradigm provides a fitting framework for the assessment of L2 pragmatics. Bringing together the two lines of research – L2 pragmatics and TBLA – this chapter will highlight similarities between the basic tenets of both domains, while discussing opportunities and challenges for employing TBLA as a framework for designing assessments that measure L2 pragmatics. To that end, the chapter begins with a brief review of the fundamental concepts of task-based assessment, highlighting the role of the task as a basic unit of analysis in designing tests that include a focus on pragmatics. It discusses challenges related to generalizability, reliability, and validity as well as issues of task design and task difficulty. It then canvasses current uses of TBLA to assess L2 pragmatics, illustrating different types of task-based assessments that have included pragmatic phenomena, both in research and in operational testing. Ultimately, it argues that, as a foundation for assessing L2 pragmatics, tasks offer a number of benefits that, despite the challenges, are worth pursuing.

Abstract

Several researchers have pointed out synergies between task-based language assessment (TBLA) and L2 pragmatics assessment, insofar as both domains are based on a concern for effective communication in context (Kim & Taguchi, 2015; Norris, 2016; Timpe-Laughlin, Wain, & Schmidgall, 2015). It is therefore surprising that very little research has been carried out on pragmatics in TBLA. Kim and Taguchi (2015), for example, highlighted that “[p]ragmatics has been a particularly underinvestigated area of task-based research” (p. 660), both in teaching and assessment – a paradox given that the task-based assessment paradigm provides a fitting framework for the assessment of L2 pragmatics. Bringing together the two lines of research – L2 pragmatics and TBLA – this chapter will highlight similarities between the basic tenets of both domains, while discussing opportunities and challenges for employing TBLA as a framework for designing assessments that measure L2 pragmatics. To that end, the chapter begins with a brief review of the fundamental concepts of task-based assessment, highlighting the role of the task as a basic unit of analysis in designing tests that include a focus on pragmatics. It discusses challenges related to generalizability, reliability, and validity as well as issues of task design and task difficulty. It then canvasses current uses of TBLA to assess L2 pragmatics, illustrating different types of task-based assessments that have included pragmatic phenomena, both in research and in operational testing. Ultimately, it argues that, as a foundation for assessing L2 pragmatics, tasks offer a number of benefits that, despite the challenges, are worth pursuing.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Acknowledgement vii
  4. Series editors’ preface ix
  5. Chapter 1. Task-based approaches to teaching and assessing pragmatics 1
  6. Part I. Teaching pragmatics through tasks
  7. Chapter 2. Learning of Korean honorifics through collaborative tasks 27
  8. Chapter 3. Effects of task supported language teaching on learners’ use and knowledge of email request mitigators 55
  9. Chapter 4. Task complexity effects on interaction during a collaborative persuasive writing task 83
  10. Part II. Using tasks to elicit pragmatics language use
  11. Chapter 5. Task modality effects on Spanish learners’ interlanguage pragmatic development 113
  12. Chapter 6. Developing pragmatic competence through tasks in EFL contexts 137
  13. Chapter 7. Independently measuring cognitive complexity in task design for interlanguage pragmatics development 159
  14. Chapter 8. Pragmatics, tasks, and technology 191
  15. Part III. Task-based assessment of pragmatics
  16. Chapter 9. Task design and validity evidence for assessment of L2 pragmatics in interaction 217
  17. Chapter 10. The effects of task type and L2 proficiency on discourse appropriacy in oral task performance 247
  18. Chapter 11. Assessing functional adequacy of L2 performance in a task-based approach 265
  19. Chapter 12. Pragmatics in task-based language assessment 287
  20. Bio notes 305
  21. Index 311
Task-Based Approaches to Teaching and Assessing Pragmatics
This chapter is in the book Task-Based Approaches to Teaching and Assessing Pragmatics
https://doi.org/10.1075/tblt.10.12tim

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Acknowledgement vii
  4. Series editors’ preface ix
  5. Chapter 1. Task-based approaches to teaching and assessing pragmatics 1
  6. Part I. Teaching pragmatics through tasks
  7. Chapter 2. Learning of Korean honorifics through collaborative tasks 27
  8. Chapter 3. Effects of task supported language teaching on learners’ use and knowledge of email request mitigators 55
  9. Chapter 4. Task complexity effects on interaction during a collaborative persuasive writing task 83
  10. Part II. Using tasks to elicit pragmatics language use
  11. Chapter 5. Task modality effects on Spanish learners’ interlanguage pragmatic development 113
  12. Chapter 6. Developing pragmatic competence through tasks in EFL contexts 137
  13. Chapter 7. Independently measuring cognitive complexity in task design for interlanguage pragmatics development 159
  14. Chapter 8. Pragmatics, tasks, and technology 191
  15. Part III. Task-based assessment of pragmatics
  16. Chapter 9. Task design and validity evidence for assessment of L2 pragmatics in interaction 217
  17. Chapter 10. The effects of task type and L2 proficiency on discourse appropriacy in oral task performance 247
  18. Chapter 11. Assessing functional adequacy of L2 performance in a task-based approach 265
  19. Chapter 12. Pragmatics in task-based language assessment 287
  20. Bio notes 305
  21. Index 311
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