Rhetoric and Reality in the Moroccan Baccalaureate Assessment System

The main argument posited by the author of this book is that poor testing practices are more often than not indications of underlying misconceptions about testing. In the Moroccan EFL context these misconceptions are mainly attributable to a want in proper formal training in language testing and psychometrics as well as to erroneous assumptions about the nature of language use and language learning. This book provides a better understanding of ‘assessment’ defining the terminology relevant to the term and outlining its multitudinous functions. The nature of ‘language ability’ or more specifically of ‘communicative language ability’ is discussed as a theoretical basis for the advent of communicative language testing. A number of other assessment-related issues are reviewed in this book including test reliability and validity and the concept of ‘washback effect’. Given the relevance and centrality of the topic to teaching and learning the book may prove of interest to individuals with a vested interest in the different sub-fields of Applied Linguistics. It may also be of interest to general readership.