Communicative Language Testing (CLT): Reflections on the “Issues Revisited” From the Perspective of an Examinations Board

Abstract

In this article we first summarise the main points raised by Morrow (1979) in the publication that formed the core of the Communicative Language Testing discussions at the original Language Testing Forum (1980). We take into consideration issues raised by the 1980 Forum participants when appropriate. We apply Morrow’s ideas and issues emerging from the Forum in an analysis of an examination suite called Graded Examinations in Spoken English (GESE) in order to determine whether in Morrow’s terms the examination would qualify as communicative. We then briefly describe a recent attempt to investigate our own claims that GESE is communicative, which involved applying a validation framework to our syllabuses, candidate performances, and performance descriptors.

Notes

1. ¹Readers are advised to view this video at http://www.trinitycollege.co.uk/site/?id=2046.

2. ¹This publication has been renamed as Exam Information-Graded Examinations in Spoken English (GESE)