Beyond Equivalence: A Theoretical Review of Cultural Bias in English Language Assessments and Pathways toward Intercultural Validity
Author : Mahadevaswamy R and Dr. Ajith K
Abstract :
While the impact of high-stakes English language assessments on education systems and work opportunities around the world is well documented in the literature‚ consideration of the cultural bias of such tests has been the subject of high-profile debate for some timeā¤ However‚ there has been a lack of theoretical integration of critical bias perspectives with emerging multi-domain bias solutions in assessmentsā¤ This theoretical review thus provides a missing piece by assessing the role of cultural background in test performance and what fairness is commonly understood to be. Synthesizing ideas from CLT‚ SCT and IC‚ the paper ends by calling for a radical shift in the way validity is theorized within the language testing field‚ moving away from the more narrow notion of "cultural fairness" based on item-level cultural equivalence‚ towards a more holistic approach to "intercultural validity" based on the test-taker's wider ability to communicate effectively and appropriately in multiple cultural settingsā¤ The resulting framework proposes a comprehensive agenda for developing equitable, theoretically sound, and empirically validated language assessments in a globalized society.
Keywords :
Language assessments, validity, cultural bias, measurement, culturally responsive tools, intercultural validity, test fairness.
