Fairness, Justice and Language Assessment

This book has two goals, each related to the validity oflanguage assessment. The first goal is to explore the differencebetween fairness and justice in language assessment. Theauthors distinguish internal and external dimensions of theequitable and just treatment of individuals taking languagetests which are used as gatekeeping devices to determineaccess to education and employment, immigrant status,citizenship, and other rights. The second goal is to show howthe extent of test fairness can be demonstrated and improvedusing the tools of psychometrics, in particular the modelscollectively known as Rasch measurement. This book will have an enormous impact on the field oflanguage assessment. Using Rasch analysis models toexplore and identify sources of unfairness, the authorsmake a compelling case for fairness in the design andimplementation of language assessment instruments andfor justice in the interpretation and use of test results. A real strength of the book is that it guides readers throughanalytical techniques in an accessible way. Dan Douglas, Professor Emeritus, Applied Linguistics Program,Iowa State University.