In the previous chapter we argued that teachers, test developers and language-testing researchers need to add to their professional knowledge by learning about how technology is changing the possibilities and realities for language assessment. What are the specific changes implicated by the use of technology in language assessment? We have discussed how technology presents changes that are relevant to the language teacher, language test developer, and language-testing researcher, but in this chapter we will focus specifically on how technology-assisted assessment methods differ from methods available to test developers in the past through paper and pencil, audio/video, and face-to-face oral interviews. We focus on the positive aspects of computer-assisted techniques, and only touch upon some of the problems associated with technology in assessment, a topic we take up more fully in Chapter 3. Our analysis draws on the perspective language-testing researchers have found productive for studying language test methods. From this perspective, it is more informative to consider test methods in terms of specific characteristics that comprise the testing event rather than holistically with terms such as “multiple-choice” or “oral interview” (Bachman, 1990). We begin with a brief discussion of the test method characteristics, and then look at the ways that technology affects each one.

Test method characteristics

Language use is affected by the context in which it takes place. It seems almost too obvious to point out that we use language differently depending upon where we are, whom we are addressing, why we are communicating, what we are communicating about, how we feel about it, and whether we are speaking or writing.