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Language Assessment Quarterly Volume 19, 2022 - Issue 3
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Interview

“Assessment Research for the Benefit of Humanity”: An Interview with Randy Thrasher and Yoshinori Watanabe

Keisuke Kubotaa Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima, JapanCorrespondence[email protected]
ORCID Iconhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-3643-3137
ORCID Icon,
Yuichiro Yokouchib Hirosaki University, Aomori, JapanORCID Iconhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-7788-2879
ORCID Icon &
Rie Koizumic Seisen University, Tokyo, JapanORCID Iconhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-6750-704X
ORCID Icon
Pages 314-334 | Published online: 16 Jun 2021

References

  • Alderson, J. C., & Wall, D. (1993). Does washback exist? Applied Linguistics, 14(2), 115–129. doi:10.1093/applin/14.2.115
  • Allen, D. (2020). Proposing change in university entrance examinations: A tale of two metaphors. Shiken, 24(2), 23–38. doi:10.37546/JALTSIG.TEVAL24.2-2
  • Allport, G. W. (1937). Personality: A psychological interpretation. Holt.
  • Bachman, L. F., & Palmer, A. S. (1996/2000). Jissen gengo tesuto sakusei ho (K. Ohtomo & R. Thrasher, Ed. & Trans.). Taishukan Publishing. (Original work published 1996).
  • Cheng, L., Watanabe, Y., with, & Curtis, A. (Eds.). (2004). Washback in language testing: Research contexts and methods. Lawrence Erlbaum.
  • Cummins, J. (1979). Linguistics interdependence and the educational development of bilingual children. Review of Educational Research, 49(2), 222–251. doi:10.3102/00346543049002222
  • Davidson, F. (2012). Releasability of language test specifications. JLTA Journal, 15, 1–23. doi:10.20622/jltajournal.15.0_1
  • Davidson, F., & Lynch, B. K. (2002). Testcraft: A teacher’s guide to writing and using language test specifications. Yale University Press.
  • International Language Testing Association. (2018). ILTA code of ethics. Retrieved from https://www.iltaonline.com/page/CodeofEthics
  • International Language Testing Association. (2020). ILTA guidelines for practice in English. Retrieved from https://www.iltaonline.com/page/ILTAGuidelinesforPractice
  • O’Sullivan, B., & Weir, C. J. (2011). Test development and validation. In B. O’Sullivan (Ed.), Language testing: Theories and practices (pp. 13–32). Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Thrasher, R. (1974). Shouldn’t ignore these strings: A study of conversational deletion [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. University of Michigan.
  • Thrasher, R. (2016). A brief history of the Japan Language Testing Association (JLTA). In Y. Watanabe, R. Koizumi, H. Iimura, & S. Takanami (Eds.), JLTA Journal 2016 Vol. 19 supplementary: 20th anniversary special issue (pp. 7–9). Japan Language Testing Association. Retrieved from https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jltajournal/19/2/19_0/_article/-char/en
  • Thrasher, R. (2021). Obituary: Kenji Ohtomo 1936–2021. Language Assessment Quarterly, 18(2), 81–82. doi:10.1080/15434303.2021.1896718
  • Watanabe, Y. (1996a). Does grammar translation come from the entrance examination? Preliminary findings from classroom-based research. Language Testing, 13(3), 318–333. doi:10.1177/026553229601300306
  • Watanabe, Y. (1997). The washback effects of the Japanese university entrance examinations of English-classroom-based research [Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Lancaster University]. EThOS. Retrieved from https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.389858
  • Watanabe, Y. (2011). Teaching a course in assessment literacy to test takers: Its rationale, procedure, content and effectiveness. Research Notes, 46, 29–34. Retrieved from www.cambridgeenglish.org/images/23164-research-notes-46.pdf

Professor Thrasher’s main publications not in the references above

  • Ohtomo, R., Thrasher, R., Nakamura, Y., & Watanabe, Y. (Eds.). (2006). Nihon gengo tesuto gakkai gengo tesutingu yogoshu & tesutingu no jisshi kihan [The Japan Language Testing Association (JLTA) bilingual list of language testing terms & the JLTA Code of Good Testing Practice]. JLTA. Retrieved from http://jlta2016.sakura.ne.jp/?page_id=35
  • Thrasher, R. (1970). Toward an acceptable theory of second language learning. Journal of Business Administration of Kwansei Gakuin University, 17(4), 149–159.
  • Thrasher, R. (1975). A statistical study of meaning vs grammar oriented aural comprehension test items. Shogaku Ronko, 29, 113–116.
  • Thrasher, R. (1977a). One way to say more by saying less: A study of so-called subjectless sentences. Eihosha.
  • Thrasher, R. (1977b). Teachers, testing, and tests. Shogaku Ronko, 35, 119–130.
  • Thrasher, R. (1979). Nihon ni okeru eigo tesuto no mondai ten [Problems of English tests in Japan]. In H. Hatori & M. Imura (Eds.), Gaikokugo kyoiku no eigo to kozo [English and structures of foreign language education] (pp. 299–307). Gakushu Kenkyusha.
  • Thrasher, R. (1980). Reading from a testing perspective. Journal of Business Administration of Kwansei Gakuin University, 27(1), 535–542. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12001/10145
  • Thrasher, R. (1983a). Linguistics and language teaching; What’s the connection? In K. Inoue, E. Kobayashi, & R. Linde (Eds.), Issues in syntax and semantics: Festschrift for Masatake Muraki (pp. 243–248). Sanshusha Publishing.
  • Thrasher, R. (1983b). What is listening and how is it to be tested? Descriptive and Applied Linguistics, 16, 221–227.
  • Thrasher, R. (1994). Language testing. Bulletin, Seigakuin University General Research Institute, 5, 21–43. doi:10.1080/15434303.2004.9671782
  • Thrasher, R. (1998). The possibility of an in-service MA program for junior and senior high school English teachers utilizing email seminars. Educational Studies, 40, 1–9. International Christian University. Retrieved from https://icu.repo.nii.ac.jp/?action=pages_view_main&active_action=repository_view_main_item_detail&item_id=975&item_no=1&page_id=13&block_id=28
  • Thrasher, R. (2004). The role of a language testing code ethics in the establishment of a Code of Practice. Language Assessment Quarterly, 1(2–3), 151–160. doi:10.1080/15434303.2004.9671782
  • Thrasher, R., Oyama, M., Yasuda, M., Makimoto, J., & Fujii, H. (1979). Kyoiku kenkyu ni okeru deta kaiseki: Maku sensu hoshiki ni yoru tesuto no shisutemu bunseki [Machine scorable testing for non-specialists]. Soken Studies, 2, 1–47. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12001/10322

Professor Watanabe’s main publications not in the references above

  • Alderson, J. C., Clapham, C., & Wall, D. (1995/2010). Gengo tesuto no sakusei to hyouka (Y. Watanabe, Trans.). Shumpusha Publishing. (Original work published 1995).
  • Watanabe, Y. (1992). Washback effects of college entrance examination on language learning strategies. JACET Bulletin, 23, 175–194. Retrieved from https://dl.ndl.go.jp/info:ndljp/pid/10500492
  • Watanabe, Y. (1996b). Investigating washback in Japanese EFL classrooms: Problems and methodology. Australian Review of Applied Linguistics, 13(1), 208–239. doi:10.1075/aralss.13.09wat
  • Watanabe, Y. (2000). Washback effects of the English section of Japanese university entrance examinations on instruction in pre-college level EFL. Language Testing Update, 27, 42–47.
  • Watanabe, Y. (2004). Exploring test-wiseness of Japanese senior high school students. Memoirs of Faculty of Education and Human Studies, Akita University, 59, 27–34. Retrieved from https://air.repo.nii.ac.jp/?action=repository_uri&item_id=497&file_id=48&file_no=1
  • Watanabe, Y. (2005). Book reviews: Building a Tower of Babel. Language Assessment Quarterly, 2(1), 69–75. doi:10.1207/s15434311laq0201_4
  • Watanabe, Y. (2006). Does teaching to the test have to be decontextualized? [Review of the book The ambiguity of teaching to the test: Standards, assessment, and educational reform, Edited by W. A. Firestone, R. Y. Schorr, & L. F. Monfils]. Language Assessment Quarterly, 3(4), 375–380. doi:10.1080/15434300701333384
  • Watanabe, Y. (2010a). Taming the external force of high-stakes language testing—Identifying conditions under which tests work for improving EFL practices. In Y. Moon & B. Spolsky (Eds.), Language assessment in Asia: Local, regional or global? (pp. 27–53). Asia TEFL.
  • Watanabe, Y. (2010b). What students really want to learn from the course?: A case of students learning English for Academic Purposes. Bulletin of the Faculty of Foreign Studies, Sophia University, 45, 109–123. Retrieved from https://dl.ndl.go.jp/info:ndljp/pid/11447169
  • Watanabe, Y. (2013a). Profiling lexical features of teacher talk in CLIL courses: The case of higher education EAP programme in Japan. International CLIL Research Journal, 2(1), 4–18. Retrieved from http://www.icrj.eu/21/article1.html
  • Watanabe, Y. (2013b). Test reviews: The National Center Test for University Admissions. Language Testing, 30(4), 565–573. doi:10.1177/0265532213483095
  • Watanabe, Y., & Koyanagi, K. (2013). Assessing Japanese. In A. J. Kunnan (Ed.), The companion to language assessment (Vol. IV, pp. 1901–1908). Wiley-Blackwell. doi:10.1002/9781118411360.wbcla048

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