The Assessment of Multilingual Learners

Supporting English Language Learners

By (author) Dr. Kate Mahoney

Publication date:

10 September 2024

Publisher

Multilingual Matters

Dimensions:

245x174mm
7x10"

ISBN-13: 9781800414976

This book is a comprehensive introduction to the topic of assessing students who use two or more languages in their daily life. The book provides foundational information for assessing multilingual learners (MLs) in schools, with an emphasis on school language and content. Major assessment ideas are viewed through a framework called PUMI (Purpose, Use, Method and Instrument) to help readers focus on important assessment principles, leading to better quality assessments for MLs.

This is a substantially revised and updated second edition of The Assessment of Emergent Bilinguals. Updates in this edition include a greater focus on multilingual assessment and assessment in language contexts in addition to English/Spanish. This edition addresses both the current politics of multilingual assessment and recent theoretical developments, including an expanded exploration of translanguaging in assessment contexts. This edition aims to be more practical than the first edition, with more examples of assessments and rubrics, and a greater emphasis on using assessment results in formative ways. 

I wish I had this outstanding book when I was a bilingual teacher! Mahoney demystifies psychometric principles and practices with real-world classroom examples and provides a useful tool for teachers to make appropriate informed decisions about the development, use, and interpretation of formative and summative assessments with multilingual learners.