Antony John Kunnan, Full\nProfessor from the University of Macau (UM) Department of English, who is also\nthe associate dean of UM\u2019s Faculty of Arts and Humanities (FAH), recently published\na new book, titled \u2018Evaluating Language Assessments\u2019, through Routledge, the world\u2019s leading\nacademic publisher in the field of humanities and social sciences. <\/p>
The new book offers a\ncomprehensive overview of the theoretical bases and research methodologies for\nthe evaluation of language assessments and demonstrates the importance of a\nfuller understanding of this widely used evaluative tool. The book explores language\nassessment evaluation in its wider political, economic, social, legal, and\nethical contexts while also illustrating quantitative and qualitative methods\nthrough discussions of key research studies. As this book makes a case for a\nclear and rigorous understanding of the theoretical and methodological\nunderpinnings of language assessment evaluation in order to achieve fair\nassessments and just institutions, it is a book suitable for students of\napplied linguistics, second language acquisition, and language assessment and\neducation.<\/p>
The book has received\nmany positive reviews. \u2018Kunnan\u2019s thoughtfully-grounded principles and\nwide-ranging illustrative examples will quickly become\u2014and long endure as\u2014the\nlandmark reference for all discussions of fairness and justice in language\ntesting. The book establishes an innovative, rigorous, and thorough conceptual\nframework to evaluate the actual uses of language assessments in society,\u2019 says\nAlister Cumming at the\nUniversity of Toronto, Canada, and Beijing Foreign Studies University, China. \u2018This\nconcise volume makes a timely contribution to the language assessment\nliterature by building on Kunnan\u2019s concerns for fairness and justice. In a\nsystematic way, he takes the reader through a process of justification that can\nlead to clearer thinking about the use of assessments and to fairer outcomes,\u2019 says\nNick Saville at the University\nof Cambridge, United Kingdom.\n\u2018Fairness and justice, the two important qualities of any assessment and\nassessment practice, seem to be suspect in most if not all assessments. This\nvolume shows how we can apply ethical thinking to address these issues in\nactual practice. Antony Kunnan provides theory, practice and research to put\nforward his compelling arguments that make the book a superb resource for\neveryone concerned with assessment,\u2019 says Rama Mathew at Delhi University, India.<\/p>
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