In examining how the linguistic resources of L2 proficiency have been conceptualized and assessed in L2 assessment and SLA, this entry has argued that semantico‐grammatical knowledge defined uniquely in terms of forms and meanings presents only a partial understanding of the linguistic resources. A fuller definition of linguistic resources of communication needs to include the form‐meaning mappings that are intrinsically related to the conveyance of propositional and pragmatic meanings. It also argues that in the assessment of communicative effectiveness, the focus might be better placed on the use of grammatical ability for meaning conveyance, rather than solely on accuracy of the form. A number of assessment tasks have been used for eliciting performance relevant to linguistic resources, but test developers need to consider how grammar tasks and scoring procedures allow for the capture of information about the resources of communication at varied grain sizes. Research attempting to include the form, meaning, and form‐meaning mapping aspects of linguistic resources in assessments is ongoing. In the meantime, test score users should critically examine the meaning of scores obtained on assessments claimed to assess grammar.
SEE ALSO: Construction Grammar; Systemic Functional Linguistics; Task‐Based Language Assessment
References
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Note
1 Based in part on J. E. Purpura (2012). Assessment of grammar. In C. A. Chapelle (Ed.), The Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics. John Wiley & Sons Inc., with permission.
Assessment of Listening
GARY J. OCKEY
Listening is important for in‐person communication, with estimates that it accounts for more than 45% of the time spent communicating (Feyten, 1991). Listening continues to become more important in virtual environments with the increase of communication through such technologies as FaceTime, Second Life, and Skype. It follows that teaching and assessing the listening skill of second language learners is essential. Unfortunately, the assessment of second language listening comprehension has attracted little research attention (Buck, 2018) and, as a result, understanding of how to best assess it is limited.
Listening Processes
Current conceptions of the listening process maintain that comprehension results from the interaction of numerous sources of information, including the acoustic input and other relevant contextual information. The mind simultaneously processes these incoming stimuli and other information such as linguistic and world knowledge already present in the mind. Listening comprehension is a dynamic process, which continues for as long as new information is made available from any of these sources (Gruba, 1999; Buck, 2001).
Listening
