Communicative language testing: Current issues and future research

This article discusses a range of current issues and future research possibilities in Communicative Language Testing (CLT) using, as its departure point, the key questions which emerged during the CLT symposium at the 2010 Language Testing Forum (LTF). The paper begins with a summary of the 2010 symposium discussion in which three main issues related to CLT are identified: (1) the “mainstreaming” of CLT since 1980, (2) the difficulty for practitioners in utilising and operationalising models of communicative ability, and (3) the challenge of theorising a sufficiently rich communicative construct. These issues are each discussed and elaborated in turn, with the conclusion drawn that, while the communicative approach lies dormant in many test constructs, there is scope for a reinvigorated communicative approach which focuses on “adaptability”. A number of future research directions with adaptability at the forefront are proposed.