assesment tools for language proficiency
andre paris
Sunday, 25 May 2008 22:58 UTC
could you please tell me what tools are commonly used in the linguistic community to assess people’s language abilities both orally and written?
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Replies
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Sorry for an extremely belated reaction. Linguists do not generally assess people’s language abilities – the linguistic endeavor is more descriptive and/or explanatory in nature. However, if one decides to assess people’s linguistic abilities, the assessment will greatly differ depending on the purpose it should serve. The criteria will be differ substantially if you need to find a creative language user for the purposes of advertising, for instance, and if you need a journalist giving clear and concise reports about events. In case you need the first type of person, you may very well look for a teenager, completely disregarding his writing. In case you want the second one, you’ll need someone who not only can write well, but also can express thoughts in a meaningful and understandable way. Maybe if you pose your question in a more concrete way, I’d be able to some more thoughts on this.
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