Catherine Elder
Biographic Data
| ID | 3843549 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Catherine Elder |
| GIVEN NAMES | Catherine |
| FAMILY NAME | Elder |
| SIGNATURE | ELDER C |
| AFFILIATIONS | The University of Melbourne |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-3808-2895 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 26 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 11 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 24 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 2 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1993 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Bias in Language Assessment
The study of bias in language assessment (as in other areas of educational measurement) is bound up with notions of fairness or disadvantage affecting particular groups of test takers.
The path to professionalism: The evolution of language testing and assessment in Australia
This paper outlines the changing functions of language testing and assessment from the era of the White Australia policy to the present day. Key contributors to the academic and professional status of the field are identified along with influential tests and assessment frameworks emerging from particular policy contexts. Attention is drawn to the expanding scope of the discipline, which now encompasses diverse domains of language use and demonstr…
Towards ‘policy responsible’ language testing: Framing the Language Testing Research Centre’s contribution in languages other than English
The importance of viewing tests in their policy contexts is now widely recognized in our field. The Language Testing Research Centre (LTRC), as a self-funding Centre, responds by necessity to policy shifts and the language testing initiatives it has undertaken over the years offer insights into broader societal and more local institutional imperatives. The Centre’s language testing activities also have the potential to influence policy, whether d…
Test review: Certifying French competency: The Delf tout public (B2)
Interrogating the construct of communicative competence in language assessment contexts: What the non-language specialist can tell us
Exploring the limits of authenticity in LSP testing: The case of a specific-purpose language test for health professionals
Passing a test of English communication skills is mandatory for overseas-trained health professionals seeking entry to clinical practice in many countries: for example in Finland, in Germany, and in many English-speaking countries. An ongoing challenge facing those responsible for testing these skills has been the need to link the language performance standards required for entry into clinical settings with the actual communication demands of the…
A comparative discourse study of simulated clinical roleplays in two assessment contexts: Validating a specific-purpose language test
The aim of this paper is to investigate from a discourse analytic perspective task authenticity in the speaking component of the Occupational English Test (OET), an English language screening test for clinicians designed to reflect the language demands of health professional–patient communication. The study compares the OET speaking sub-test roleplay performances of 12 doctors who were successful OET candidates with practice Objective Structured …
The hunt for “indigenous criteria” in assessing communication in the physiotherapy workplace
Gaining insights from domain experts into how they view communication in real world settings is recognized as an important authenticity consideration in the development of criteria to assess language proficiency for specific academic or occupational purposes. These “indigenous” criteria represent an articulation of the test construct and should therefore reflect what is germane to the particular domain of language use rather than general language…
Interrogating the construct of aviation English: Feedback from test takers in Korea
This paper explores the underlying construct of both the English proficiency test for pilot and air traffic controller radiotelephony communication developed and administered in Korea and the ICAO language proficiency testing policy on which the test in Korea is based. It does so by canvassing the opinions of Korean airline pilots and air traffic controllers through 400 questionnaire and 22 interview sources. Results reveal a lack of fit between …
Investigating the validity of an integrated listening-speaking task: A discourse-based analysis of test takers’ oral performances
Performance on integrated tasks requires candidates to engage skills and strategies beyond language proficiency alone, in ways that can be difficult to define and measure for testing purposes. While it has been widely recognized that stimulus materials impact test performance, our understanding of the way in which test takers make use of these materials in their responses, particularly in the context of listening-speaking tasks, remains predomina…
Judgments of oral proficiency by non-native and native English speaking teacher raters: Competing or complementary constructs
This paper reports the findings of an empirical study on ESL/EFL teachers’ evaluation and interpretation of oral English proficiency as elicited by the national College English Test-Spoken English Test (CET-SET) of China. Informed by debates on the issue of native speaker (NS) norms which have become the focus of attention in recent years, this study addresses the question of whether judgments of language proficiency by non-native English speakin…
Validity and fairness implications of varying time conditions on a diagnostic test of academic English writing proficiency
Up to a quarter of the Australian population may have suboptimal health literacy depending upon the measurement tool: Results from a population-based survey
The objective of this paper is to measure health literacy in a representative sample of the Australian general population using three health literacy tools; to consider the congruency of results; and to determine whether these assessments were associated with socio-demographic characteristics. Face-to-face interviews were conducted in a stratified random sample of the adult Victorian population identified from the 2004 Australian Government Elect…
Handbook of Applied Linguistics
Target Language Use in Foreign Language Classrooms: Practices and Perceptions of Two Native Speaker Teachers in New Zealand
This paper investigates the code-switching behaviour of two native speaker teachers teaching their mother tongue – French and Korean, respectively – to predominantly English monolingual students in New Zealand secondary schools. A close analysis of these teachers’ classroom discourse and their perceptions about classroom language use reveals a range of factors which, in spite of their proficiency, constrain their use of the target language (TL) f…
Evaluating rater responses to an online training program for L2 writing assessment
The use of online rater self-training is growing in popularity and has obvious practical benefits, facilitating access to training materials and rating samples and allowing raters to reorient themselves to the rating scale and self monitor their behaviour at their own convenience. However there has thus far been little research into rater attitudes to training via this modality and its effectiveness in enhancing levels of inter- and intra-rater a…
The Handbook of Applied Linguistics
Evaluating the Effectiveness of Heritage Language Education: What Role for Testing
This paper considers the role of tests in evaluating the effectiveness of a government-funded initiative to teach heritage languages in selected Australian schools. External evaluations were commissioned by the central educational authority and included a pre- and post-test requirement, although the nature and purpose of the tests was not specified. Drawing on illustrative data from four heritage language (HL) programmes (for learners of Chinese,…
The Handbook of Applied Linguistics
The Relationship between Metalinguistic Knowledge and Learning Outcomes among Undergraduate Students of Chinese
The role of metalinguistic knowledge in learning a foreign/second language is the subject of continuing debate. In this paper we report on a study which explores this issue further with reference to undergraduate students of Chinese as a second/foreign language. The first part of the paper describes the process of developing and validating an instrument designed to elicit information about students' knowledge of the Chinese grammatical system via…
Estimating the difficulty of oral proficiency tasks: What does the test-taker have to offer
This study investigates the impact of performance conditions on perceptions of task difficulty in a test of spoken language, in light of the cognitive complexity framework proposed by Skehan (1998). Candidates performed a series of narrative tasks whose characteristics, and the conditions under which they were performed, were manipulated, and the impact of these on task performance was analysed. Test-takers recorded their perceptions of the relat…
Assessing the language proficiency of teachers: Are there any border controls
This article takes up some of the issues identified by Douglas (2000) as problematic for Language for Specific Purposes (LSP) testing, making reference to a number of performance-based instruments designed to assess the language proficiency of teachers or intending teachers. The instruments referred to include proficiency tests for teachers of Italian as a foreign language in Australia (Elder, 1994) and for trainee teachers using a foreign langua…
Can We Predict Task Difficulty in an Oral Proficiency Test? Exploring the Potential of an Information-Processing Approach to Task Design
This study addresses the following question: Are different task characteristics and performance conditions (involving assumed different levels of cognitive demand) associated with different levels of fluency, complexity, or accuracy in test candidate responses? The materials for the were a series of narrative tasks involving a picture stimulus; the participants were 193 pre-university students taking English courses. We varied the conditions for …
Outing the Native Speaker: The Problem of Diverse Learner Backgrounds in 'Foreign' Language Classrooms - An Australian Case Study
The Australian experience with Italian, Greek and Chinese raises a serious question about the usefulness of the distinction between 'native' and 'non-native' competence. The question is particularly acute when it is necessary, in the interests of equity and effective pedagogy, to assign learners from heterogeneous linguistic backgrounds to different language programmes, whether they be for first, second or foreign languages. The paper discusses s…
The Effect of Language Background on "Foreign" Language Test Performance: The Case of Chinese, Italian, and Modern Greek
This article considers the validity of applying common assessment instruments and scales to assess the language skills of Australian school-age language learners from different LI backgrounds. I used data gathered from standardized national tests of reading and listening proficiency in 3 heritage languages: Italian, Greek, and Chinese. The tests, known as the Australian Language Certificates (ALC), are administered annually to a large population …
Can We Predict Task Difficulty in an Oral Proficiency Test? Exploring the Potential of an Information-Processing Approach to Task Design
This study addresses the following question: Are different task characteristics and performance conditions (involving assumed different levels of cognitive demand) associated with different levels of fluency, complexity, or accuracy in test candidate responses? The materials for the were a series of narrative tasks involving a picture stimulus; the participants were 193 pre-university students taking English courses. We varied the conditions for …
Outing the Native Speaker: The Problem of Diverse Learner Backgrounds in 'Foreign' Language Classrooms - An Australian Case Study
The Australian experience with Italian, Greek and Chinese raises a serious question about the usefulness of the distinction between 'native' and 'non-native' competence. The question is particularly acute when it is necessary, in the interests of equity and effective pedagogy, to assign learners from heterogeneous linguistic backgrounds to different language programmes, whether they be for first, second or foreign languages. The paper discusses s…
Interrogating the construct of communicative competence in language assessment contexts: What the non-language specialist can tell us
The Effect of Language Background on "Foreign" Language Test Performance: The Case of Chinese, Italian, and Modern Greek
This article considers the validity of applying common assessment instruments and scales to assess the language skills of Australian school-age language learners from different LI backgrounds. I used data gathered from standardized national tests of reading and listening proficiency in 3 heritage languages: Italian, Greek, and Chinese. The tests, known as the Australian Language Certificates (ALC), are administered annually to a large population …
How do subject specialists construe classroom language proficiency
Recent research on rater variation (e.g., Barnwell, 1989; Douglas and Selinker, 1990; Hadden, 1991) raises the question of whether 'linguistically naive' subject specialists may be better equipped than language experts to judge the effectiveness of particular areas of non-native speaker communica tion. This question is investigated with reference to a classroom-based observation schedule which was developed to assess the English language proficie…
The Effect of Language Background on "Foreign" Language Test Performance: The Case of Chinese, Italian, and Modern Greek
This article considers the validity of applying common assessment instruments and scales to assess the language skills of Australian school-age language learners from different LI backgrounds. I used data gathered from standardized national tests of reading and listening proficiency in 3 heritage languages: Italian, Greek, and Chinese. The tests, known as the Australian Language Certificates (ALC), are administered annually to a large population …
Outing the Native Speaker: The Problem of Diverse Learner Backgrounds in 'Foreign' Language Classrooms - An Australian Case Study
The Australian experience with Italian, Greek and Chinese raises a serious question about the usefulness of the distinction between 'native' and 'non-native' competence. The question is particularly acute when it is necessary, in the interests of equity and effective pedagogy, to assign learners from heterogeneous linguistic backgrounds to different language programmes, whether they be for first, second or foreign languages. The paper discusses s…
Assessing the language proficiency of teachers: Are there any border controls
This article takes up some of the issues identified by Douglas (2000) as problematic for Language for Specific Purposes (LSP) testing, making reference to a number of performance-based instruments designed to assess the language proficiency of teachers or intending teachers. The instruments referred to include proficiency tests for teachers of Italian as a foreign language in Australia (Elder, 1994) and for trainee teachers using a foreign langua…
Can We Predict Task Difficulty in an Oral Proficiency Test? Exploring the Potential of an Information-Processing Approach to Task Design
This study addresses the following question: Are different task characteristics and performance conditions (involving assumed different levels of cognitive demand) associated with different levels of fluency, complexity, or accuracy in test candidate responses? The materials for the were a series of narrative tasks involving a picture stimulus; the participants were 193 pre-university students taking English courses. We varied the conditions for …
Estimating the difficulty of oral proficiency tasks: What does the test-taker have to offer
This study investigates the impact of performance conditions on perceptions of task difficulty in a test of spoken language, in light of the cognitive complexity framework proposed by Skehan (1998). Candidates performed a series of narrative tasks whose characteristics, and the conditions under which they were performed, were manipulated, and the impact of these on task performance was analysed. Test-takers recorded their perceptions of the relat…
The Handbook of Applied Linguistics
The Relationship between Metalinguistic Knowledge and Learning Outcomes among Undergraduate Students of Chinese
The role of metalinguistic knowledge in learning a foreign/second language is the subject of continuing debate. In this paper we report on a study which explores this issue further with reference to undergraduate students of Chinese as a second/foreign language. The first part of the paper describes the process of developing and validating an instrument designed to elicit information about students' knowledge of the Chinese grammatical system via…
The Handbook of Applied Linguistics
Evaluating the Effectiveness of Heritage Language Education: What Role for Testing
This paper considers the role of tests in evaluating the effectiveness of a government-funded initiative to teach heritage languages in selected Australian schools. External evaluations were commissioned by the central educational authority and included a pre- and post-test requirement, although the nature and purpose of the tests was not specified. Drawing on illustrative data from four heritage language (HL) programmes (for learners of Chinese,…
Evaluating rater responses to an online training program for L2 writing assessment
The use of online rater self-training is growing in popularity and has obvious practical benefits, facilitating access to training materials and rating samples and allowing raters to reorient themselves to the rating scale and self monitor their behaviour at their own convenience. However there has thus far been little research into rater attitudes to training via this modality and its effectiveness in enhancing levels of inter- and intra-rater a…
Handbook of Applied Linguistics
Target Language Use in Foreign Language Classrooms: Practices and Perceptions of Two Native Speaker Teachers in New Zealand
This paper investigates the code-switching behaviour of two native speaker teachers teaching their mother tongue – French and Korean, respectively – to predominantly English monolingual students in New Zealand secondary schools. A close analysis of these teachers’ classroom discourse and their perceptions about classroom language use reveals a range of factors which, in spite of their proficiency, constrain their use of the target language (TL) f…
Up to a quarter of the Australian population may have suboptimal health literacy depending upon the measurement tool: Results from a population-based survey
The objective of this paper is to measure health literacy in a representative sample of the Australian general population using three health literacy tools; to consider the congruency of results; and to determine whether these assessments were associated with socio-demographic characteristics. Face-to-face interviews were conducted in a stratified random sample of the adult Victorian population identified from the 2004 Australian Government Elect…
Validity and fairness implications of varying time conditions on a diagnostic test of academic English writing proficiency
Judgments of oral proficiency by non-native and native English speaking teacher raters: Competing or complementary constructs
This paper reports the findings of an empirical study on ESL/EFL teachers’ evaluation and interpretation of oral English proficiency as elicited by the national College English Test-Spoken English Test (CET-SET) of China. Informed by debates on the issue of native speaker (NS) norms which have become the focus of attention in recent years, this study addresses the question of whether judgments of language proficiency by non-native English speakin…
Investigating the validity of an integrated listening-speaking task: A discourse-based analysis of test takers’ oral performances
Performance on integrated tasks requires candidates to engage skills and strategies beyond language proficiency alone, in ways that can be difficult to define and measure for testing purposes. While it has been widely recognized that stimulus materials impact test performance, our understanding of the way in which test takers make use of these materials in their responses, particularly in the context of listening-speaking tasks, remains predomina…
Interrogating the construct of aviation English: Feedback from test takers in Korea
This paper explores the underlying construct of both the English proficiency test for pilot and air traffic controller radiotelephony communication developed and administered in Korea and the ICAO language proficiency testing policy on which the test in Korea is based. It does so by canvassing the opinions of Korean airline pilots and air traffic controllers through 400 questionnaire and 22 interview sources. Results reveal a lack of fit between …
Exploring the limits of authenticity in LSP testing: The case of a specific-purpose language test for health professionals
Passing a test of English communication skills is mandatory for overseas-trained health professionals seeking entry to clinical practice in many countries: for example in Finland, in Germany, and in many English-speaking countries. An ongoing challenge facing those responsible for testing these skills has been the need to link the language performance standards required for entry into clinical settings with the actual communication demands of the…
A comparative discourse study of simulated clinical roleplays in two assessment contexts: Validating a specific-purpose language test
The aim of this paper is to investigate from a discourse analytic perspective task authenticity in the speaking component of the Occupational English Test (OET), an English language screening test for clinicians designed to reflect the language demands of health professional–patient communication. The study compares the OET speaking sub-test roleplay performances of 12 doctors who were successful OET candidates with practice Objective Structured …
The hunt for “indigenous criteria” in assessing communication in the physiotherapy workplace
Gaining insights from domain experts into how they view communication in real world settings is recognized as an important authenticity consideration in the development of criteria to assess language proficiency for specific academic or occupational purposes. These “indigenous” criteria represent an articulation of the test construct and should therefore reflect what is germane to the particular domain of language use rather than general language…
Interrogating the construct of communicative competence in language assessment contexts: What the non-language specialist can tell us
Test review: Certifying French competency: The Delf tout public (B2)
Towards ‘policy responsible’ language testing: Framing the Language Testing Research Centre’s contribution in languages other than English
The importance of viewing tests in their policy contexts is now widely recognized in our field. The Language Testing Research Centre (LTRC), as a self-funding Centre, responds by necessity to policy shifts and the language testing initiatives it has undertaken over the years offer insights into broader societal and more local institutional imperatives. The Centre’s language testing activities also have the potential to influence policy, whether d…
The path to professionalism: The evolution of language testing and assessment in Australia
This paper outlines the changing functions of language testing and assessment from the era of the White Australia policy to the present day. Key contributors to the academic and professional status of the field are identified along with influential tests and assessment frameworks emerging from particular policy contexts. Attention is drawn to the expanding scope of the discipline, which now encompasses diverse domains of language use and demonstr…
Psychology (21 works) · Mathematics education (17 works) · EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning (16 works) · Linguistics (16 works) · Computer Science (12 works) · Language proficiency (11 works) · Language assessment (9 works) · Second Language Learning and Teaching (9 works) · Multilingual Education and Policy (8 works) · Pedagogy (7 works)