The high stakes use of language proficiency tests as illusio and pyramid scheme: An evaluation of their social aspects, validity, and reliability

Abstract

There is a growing trend in using high stakes standardised test scores to evaluate individuals' academic and professional language proficiency. Although these tests determine the fates of millions of students and job seekers across the world, several aspects of these tests such as their design, ethical implementation, procedural fairness, and validity and reliability are questioned by many linguists. This chapter aims to evaluate the mostly criticised social and technical aspects of high stakes language tests from a pyramid scheme perspective. In order to achieve this aim, a number of empirical studies from the extant literature are reviewed, and some comments are provided in the conclusion section.