The interlanguage metaphor and language assessment
Fred Davidson · World Englishes · 1994
ABSTRACT: The concept of ‘interlanguage’ is addressed with special attention to language assessment. Interlanguage assumes a single target norm, and this paper contends that major language tests uphold that norm. The paper challenges testing's role in the concept of interlanguage by challenging the mechanism by which such tests uphold that single norm and thereby suppress linguistic variety. It is a mechanism which operates by selecting for test items that adhere to a normal‐curve‐derived testing model. To counter such a mechanism, the paper argues that (1) testing companies should be challenged with hard statistical data that shows their tests to be multidimensional, and (2) reasoning in favor of self‐directed testing can further show the monolithic nature of major tests. The paper concludes with an appeal to language test users (as opposed to test developers) to participate in the reform of language assessment.