Language, Dialect, and Register: Sociolinguistics and the Estimation of Measurement Error in the Testing of English Language Learners

This article examines the intersection of psychometrics and sociolinguists in the testing of English language learners (ELLs); it discusses language, dialect, and register as sources of measurement error. Research findings show that the dialect of the language in which students are tested (e.g., local or standard English) is as important as language as a facet that influences score dependability in ELL testing. The development, localization, review, and sampling of items are examined as aspects of the process of test construction critical to properly attaining linguistic alignment: the correspondence between the features of the dialect and the register used in a test, and the features of the language to which ELLs are exposed in both formal and instructional contexts.