Cover not available

Article published In: Australian Review of Applied Linguistics: Online-First Articles

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload PDF
EPUB logo with download linkDownload EPUB

The path to professionalism

The evolution of language testing and assessment in Australia

ORCiD logo with link | University of Melbourne
 | University of Melbourne
Open Access logo
Available under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 license.

For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at rights@benjamins.nl.

Open Access publication of this article was funded through a Transformative Agreement with The University of Melbourne.

Published online: 28 October 2025
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/aral.25030.eld
Abstract
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 demonstrates a growing social consciousness. Australian accomplishments in language testing and assessment are now recognized both locally and internationally as central to the field of applied linguistics and as playing a critical contribution to fairness and equity in the broader educational and political context.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Synopsys
  • 3.The multicultural turn
  • 4.The marketization of higher education
  • 5.The creation of specialized research centres
  • 6.Government-commissioned tests
  • 7.The LTRC contribution
  • 8.The contribution of the Research Centre for Languages and Cultures (RCLC)
  • 9.Other contributions
  • 10.The current state of the field
  • 11.Limitations
  • Acknowledgements
  • Note
  • References
References (56)
References
Angelo, D. (2021). Countering misrecognition of Indigenous contact languages and their ecologies. PhD dissertation: Australian National University.
Brindley, G. & Wigglesworth, G. (1997). Access: issues in language test design and delivery. National Centre for English Language Teaching and Research, Macquarie UniversityGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Brindley, G. (1998). Outcomes-based assessment and reporting in language learning programmes: a review of the issues. Language Testing, 15(1), 45–85. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2001). Outcomes-based assessment in practice: some examples and emerging insights. Language Testing, 18(4), 393–407. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Brown, A. (2003). Interviewer variation and the co-construction of speaking proficiency. Language Testing, 20(1), 1–25. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Brown, A. & Hill, K. (1998). Interviewer style and candidate performance in the IELTS oral interview. In Woods, S. (Ed.) IELTS Research Reports, Volume 11. [URL]
Brown, A., Iwashita, N., McNamara, T. (2005). An examination of rater orientations and test-taker performance on English-for-academic-purposes speaking tasks. ETS Research Report Series, Volume 2005, Issue 1. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Creagh, S. (2016). Understanding the politics of categories in reporting national test results. National testing in schools: an Australia assessment. (pp. 110–125) In Lingard, B., Thompson, G. & Sellar, S. (Eds.) National Testing in Schools. Oxon, United Kingdom: Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Davies, A. (1997). Introduction: the limits of ethics in language testing. Language Testing, 14(3), 235–241. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Davies, A. & Elder, C. (2005). Validity and validation in language testing. In E. Hinkel (Ed.), Handbook of research in second language teaching and learning (pp. 795–813). Mahwah, NJ.: Lawrence Erlbaum.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Davies, A., Brown, A., Elder, C., Evans, R., Grove, E., Iwashita, N., O’Shannassy, C., Lumley, T., McNamara, T. (1996). Mark my Words: Assessing Second and Foreign Language Skills. 6-part video series. Multimedia Production Unit, The University of Melbourne.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Davies, A., Brown, A., Elder, C., Hill, K., Lumley, T., McNamara, T. (1999). Dictionary of Language Testing. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Davison, C. (2021). Enhancing teacher assessment literacy: one approach to improving teacher knowledge and skills in Australia. In Xhu, X. & Song, H. (Eds.) Envisioning teaching and learning of teachers for excellence and equity in education: Perspectives on rethinking and reforming education. Springer. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dooley, K. & Moore, H. (2009). Penny McKay 1948–2009: A leader in English language education TESOL in Context 19,2: 50–66.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Elder, C. (1997). What does test bias have to do with fairness? Language Testing, 14(3), 261–277. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2017). Language assessment in higher education. Language testing and assessment, 271–286. In Shohamy, E. (Ed.) Encyclopedia of Language and Education, Vol. 7 Language testing and assessment. Third Edition. Springer. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2016). Exploring the limits of authenticity in LSP testing: The case of a specific-purpose language test for health professionals. Language Testing, 33(2), 147–152. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Elder, C., McNamara, T., Woodward-Kron, R., Manias, E., McColl, G., Webb, G. (2013). Towards improved healthcare communication. Development and validation of language proficiency standards for non-native English-speaking health professionals. University of Melbourne: Language Testing Research Centre.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Elder, C. & Read, J. (2015a). Post-entry language assessments in Australia. In Read, J. Assessing English Proficiency for University Study. Palgrave MacMillan. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2015b). Post-entry language assessments in other countries. In Read, J. Assessing English Proficiency for University Study. Palgrave MacMillan.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Elder, C. & Zammit, S. (1992). Assessing performance in languages other than English: the contribution of the Australian Language Certificates. Vox: Journal of the Australian Advisory Council on Languages and Multicultural Education (ACCLAME), 61, 14–18.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fan, J. & Knoch, U. (2019). Fairness in language assessment: What can the Rasch model offer? Papers in Language Testing and Assessment 8(2). Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Frost, K., & McNamara, T. (2018). Language tests, language policy, and citizenship. In J. W. Tollefson & M. Pérez-MIlans (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Language Policy and Planning (1st ed.). Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hamp-Lyons & Lumley. (2001). Assessing language for specific purposes. Language Testing 18(2), 127–132. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hawthorne, L. (1997). The political dimension of language testing in Australia. Language Testing 14(3):248–260. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hill, K., & McNamara, T. (2012). Developing a comprehensive, empirically based research framework for classroom-based assessment. Language Testing, 29(3), 395–420. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hudson, C., & Angelo, D. (2014). Concepts underpinning innovations to second language proficiency scales inclusive of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander learners: a dynamic process in progress. Papers in Language Testing and Assessment, 3(1), 44–84. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ingram, D. E. (1976). The ASLPR: Its origins and current developments. (6p.) Paper presented at the NLLIA Language Expo ’96, Brisbane.
Knoch, U. (2011). Investigating the effectiveness of individualized feedback to rating behavior — a longitudinal study. Language Testing, 28(2), 179–200. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Knoch, U., & Chapelle, C. A. (2018). Validation of rating processes within an argument-based framework. Language Testing, 35(4), 477–499. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Knoch, U. & Elder, C. (2009). Development and validation of the Academic English Screening Test (AEST). University of Melbourne: Language Testing Research Centre.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2013). A framework for validating post-entry language assessments (PELAs). Papers in Language Testing and Assessment, 2, 2, 1–19. [URL].
Knoch, U., Elder, C., Woodward-Kron, R., Flynn, E., Manias, E., McNamara, T., Zhang, B., Huisman, A. (2017). Towards improved quality of written patient records: development and validation of language proficiency standards for writing for non-native English speaking health professionals. Melbourne: Language Testing Research Centre, University of Melbourne.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Knoch, U., McNamara, T., Elder, C. (2017). Submission to the Australian Government Department of Immigration and Border Protection on the discussion paper ‘Strengthening the test for the Australian citizenship’. Melbourne: Language Testing Research Centre.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Knoch, U. & Macqueen, S. (2017). Assessment in the L2 classroom. In Loewen, S. & Sato, M. (Eds.) The Routledge Handbook of Instructed Second Language Acquisition. Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Knoch, U. & Macqueen. (2019). Assessing English for Professional Purposes: Language and the workplace. Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Iwashita, N., McNamara, T. and Elder, C. (2001). Can we predict task difficulty in an oral proficiency test? Exploring the potential of an information-processing approach to task design. Language Learning, 511, 401–436. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
LoBianco, J. (1987). National Policy on Languages. Canberra, Australian Government Publishing Service, pp. 1–10, 14–15, 181, 189–203.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lumley, T. (2002). Assessment criteria in a large-scale writing test: what do they really mean to the raters? Language Testing, 19(3), 246–276. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
McKay, P. (1995). Developing ESL proficiency descriptions for the school context: The NLLIA ESL Bandscales. In G. Brindley (Ed.), Language assessment in action (pp. 31–63). Sydney: National Centre for English Language Teaching and Research.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
McKay, P., & Scarino, A. (1992). The ESL Framework of Stages. Melbourne: Curriculum Corporation.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
McNamara, T. (1990). Assessing the second language proficiency of health professionals. Unpublished PhD thesis: The University of Melbourne.
(1996). Measuring second language performance. Longman.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2009). Australia: the dictation test redux? Language Assessment Quarterly, 6(1), 106–111. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
McNamara, T., Knoch, U., Fan, J. (2019). Fairness, Justice and Language Assessment. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
McNamara, T. & Roever, C. (2006). Language testing: the social dimension. Blackwell Publishing.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
McNamara, T., & Ryan, K. (2011). Fairness versus justice in language testing: the place of English literacy in the Australian citizenship test. Language Assessment Quarterly, 8(2), 161–178. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
O’Hagan, S. (2014). Variability in Assessor Responses to Undergraduate Essays An Issue for Assessment Quality in Higher Education. Peter Lang Gmbh, Internationaler Verlag Der Wissenschaften.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
O’Loughlin, K. (2011). The interpretation and use of proficiency test scores in university selection: how valid and ethical are they? Language Assessment Quarterly, 8(2), 146–160. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pill, J. (2016). Drawing on indigenous criteria for more authentic assessment in a specific-purpose language test: Health professionals interacting with patients. Language Testing, 33(2), 175–193. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pill, J., & Harding, L. (2013). Defining the language assessment literacy gap: Evidence from a parliamentary inquiry. Language Testing, 30(3), 381–402. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Roever, C. & Wigglesworth, G. (Eds.) (2019). Social perspectives on language testing. Peter Lang. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Scarino, A., Vale, P., McKay, P., & Clark, J. (1988). Australian Language Levels. Canberra: Curriculum Development Corporation.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Scarino, A., & Elder, C. (Eds.). (2012). Describing school achievement in Asian languages for diverse learner groups [Special issue]. Australian Review of Applied Linguistics, 35(3).Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wigglesworth, G., Simpson, J., Loakes, D. (2010). Naplan language assessments for indigenous children in remote communities: issues and problems. Australian Review of Applied Linguistics, 34(3), 320–343. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
York, B. (1996). White Australia and the dictation test. Voices: The Quarterly Journal of the National Library of Australia, 6(3), 27–36.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue