Testing ESL Pragmatics

Download or read book Testing ESL Pragmatics written by Carsten Röver and published by Peter Lang Gmbh, Internationaler Verlag Der Wissenschaften. This book was released on 2005 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Although second language learners' pragmatic competence (their ability to use language in context) is an essential part of their general communicative competence, it has not been a part of second language tests. This book helps fill this gap by describing the development and validation of a web-based test of ESL pragmalinguistics. The instrument assesses learners' knowledge of routine formulae, speech acts, and implicature in 36 multiple-choice and brief-response items. The test's quantitative and qualitative validation with 300 learners showed high reliability and provided strong evidence of the instrument's construct validity. Its web-based format makes it easy to administer and score. The book ends with a discussion of future research directions in assessing second language pragmatics.