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Thepredicamentofassessment
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happensisthemodificationconsistinginloweringNSstandardsforpronunci-
ation,grammarandidiomaticity(Jenkins,2007),whileNSbecomesaframeof
referenceratherthanamodeltofollow.
Anotherissuehastodowiththeassessmentofinteractiveskills.Veryof-
tendifcultiesinunderstandingspringfromtheindividualwayofspeaking
ratherthanfromthecomplexityofthetext.Interlocutors)skillsandperson-
alitiesinfluencetest-takers)comprehensionlevels,whiletestees)skillstode-
codenonverbalsignalsdińeraswell,adifcultySimulatedOralProfciency
Interview(SOPI)tests,whichelicitinterviewee)sanswersthroughpre-record-
edinterviewer)squestions,minimizebyprovidingidenticalinterlocutor)sut-
terancesforalltest-takers,yetatthesametimetheimpersonalformatofthe
SOPItestcausesmorestressduetoalackoffacetofacecontact.Ontopof
allthoseproblems,testconstructorshavetocopewithexaminers)subjec-
tivitywhichcannotbefullyeliminated.Tequestionofjudgmentsremains
open;ifuniformjudgmentisexpected,alargernumberofjudgesshould
notbesoughtandifjudgmentsdińer,averagingscoresdoesnotseemtobe
asatisfactorysolution.
Somemoreproblemsareconnectedwithfeedbackeredinformativeeval-
uation.ElaborationLikelihoodTeory(Petty&Wegener,1999)postulatestwo
dińerentwaysoffeedbackprocessing:thecentralonebasedoncontentand
theperipheralonebasedonauthority.Althoughtheformerisofgreatervalue,
itcanbefearedthatschoolsystemsarelikelytopromotethelatter.Questions
alsoariseaboutmessageformatinteachers)feedbackconstruction.Accord-
ingtotheCongruentCommunicationTeory(Ginott,1972),formatsdirected
attheactivityinvolvedareacceptedmorereadilythanthoseexpressingfeed-
backgivers)emotions,whileperson-orientedfeedbackisusuallyignored.Itis
alsodifculttoforeseewhetherfeedbackislikelytobeacceptedorrejectedas
learner)sego-protectionandego-enhancementmayredirecttheprocess.
4.Conclusions
Paradigmwarsareundoubtedlyaroadtoprogress,butitcannotbedenied
thattheyareatthesametimeamarketingstrategyforacademics.Tevalueof
eachnewparadigmliesinsheddinglightonaspectsformerlyignoredandthe
waritselfenhancesreflectiononwhatcanbeimprovedandhowtoidentifythe
bestwayforward.Italsoinvitesliveanswerswhichreferbacktotheoriginal
question,stimulatingitsothatitleadstonewquestionsandnewanswers.