Regimes of language skill and competency assessment in an age of migration: the in/visibility of social relations and practices

Abstract

This paper draws on ethnographic research to discuss the textual practices and social relations of language assessment. It examines the tensions that language educators and assessment practitioners encounter while making decisions about immigrant professionals’ language competence. It also analyzes the role of other social actors in constituting conceptions of skill. The paper concludes by considering social practice theory as an alternative for exploring conceptions of competence.

Keywords:

• immigration
• skills assessment
• language competence
• professional practice

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. A comparable framework for the French language, Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadiens, was developed and released in 2006. This research study examined practices based on the use of 2000 version of the CLB. In 2012, the Centre for the CLBs released a revised version.