Constitutive and regulative conditions for the assessment of academic literacy

If we characterise language tests as applied linguistic instruments, we may argue that they therefore need to conform to the conditions that apply to the development of responsible applied linguistic designs. Conventionally, language tests are required to possess both validity and reliability; these are necessary conditions for such tests, and so is their theoretical defensibility (‘construct validity’). The new orthodoxy, however, is that test designers must also seek consequential validity for their instruments, in that they have to consider test impact. Using an emerging framework for a theory of applied linguistics, this paper outlines how a number of constitutive or necessary conditions for test design (their instrumental power, their consistency and theoretical justification) relate to other current concepts. These recently articulated notions include the ideas of test acceptability, utility, and alignment with both the instruction that follows and with the real or perceived language needs of students; as well as their transparency, accountability and care for those taking them. The latter set of ideas may be defined as regulative or sufficient conditions for language tests. These concepts will be illustrated with reference to the design of a test of academic literacy levels that is widely used in South African universities.Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies 2009, 27(3): 235–25