A framework for second language vocabulary assessment

Abstract

Vocabulary tests are used for a wide range of instructional and research purposes but we lack a comprehensive basis for evaluating the current instruments or developing new lexical measures for the future. This article presents a framework that takes as its starting point an analysis of test purpose and then shows how purpose can be systematically related to test design. The link between the two is based on three considerations which derive from Messick’s (1989) validation theory: construct definition, performance summary and reporting, and test presentation. The components of the framework are illustrated throughout by reference to eight well-known vocabulary measures; for each one there is a description of its design and an analysis of its purpose. It is argued that the way forward for vocabulary assessment is to take account of test purposes in the design and validation of tests, as well as considering an interactionalist approach to construct definition. This means that a vocabulary test should require learners to perform tasks under contextual constraints that are relevant to the inferences to be made about their lexical ability.