Home > Research > Publications & Outputs > Language testing in the ‘hostile environment’

Research

Associated organisational units

Electronic data

  • Language Testingcomplete

    Accepted author manuscript, 762 KB, PDF document

    Available under license: CC BY: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

Links

Text available via DOI:

Keywords

View graph of relations

Language testing in the ‘hostile environment’: The discursive construction of ‘secure English language testing’ in the United Kingdom

Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review

Published

Standard

Language testing in the ‘hostile environment’: The discursive construction of ‘secure English language testing’ in the United Kingdom. / Harding, Luke; Brunfaut, Tineke; Unger, Johann Wolfgang.
In: Applied Linguistics, Vol. 41, No. 5, 01.10.2020, p. 662–687.

Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review

Harvard

Harding, L, Brunfaut, T & Unger, JW 2020, 'Language testing in the ‘hostile environment’: The discursive construction of ‘secure English language testing’ in the United Kingdom', Applied Linguistics, vol. 41, no. 5, pp. 662–687. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amz017

APA

Harding, L., Brunfaut, T., & Unger, J. W. (2020). Language testing in the ‘hostile environment’: The discursive construction of ‘secure English language testing’ in the United Kingdom. Applied Linguistics, 41(5), 662–687. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amz017

Vancouver

Harding L, Brunfaut T, Unger JW. Language testing in the ‘hostile environment’: The discursive construction of ‘secure English language testing’ in the United Kingdom. Applied Linguistics. 2020 Oct 1;41(5):662–687. Epub 2019 May 11. doi: 10.1093/applin/amz017

Author

Harding, Luke ; Brunfaut, Tineke ; Unger, Johann Wolfgang. / Language testing in the ‘hostile environment’ : The discursive construction of ‘secure English language testing’ in the United Kingdom. In: Applied Linguistics. 2020 ; Vol. 41, No. 5. pp. 662–687.

Bibtex

@article{46b7cfdcc7f24ba9adc9a2c569e062e1,
title = "Language testing in the {\textquoteleft}hostile environment{\textquoteright}: The discursive construction of {\textquoteleft}secure English language testing{\textquoteright} in the United Kingdom",
abstract = "In parallel with an increased focus on border security in immigration and citizenship policy in the United Kingdom (the so-called {\textquoteleft}hostile environment{\textquoteright} policy), Government-approved English language tests for visa and immigration purposes were officially labelled {\textquoteleft}Secure English Language Tests{\textquoteright} (SELTs) in 2010. The proximity of security concerns in language testing with broader national immigration policy objectives suggests a complex role for language tests as gatekeeping devices. This paper draws on critical discourse studies to explore this issue. Documents provided in the 2014 tender round for selecting Secure English Language Tests (acquired through a Freedom of Information request) were analysed through a discourse-historical lens (Reisigl & Wodak 2016) to map salient topics and identify discursive strategies used to construct {\textquoteleft}secure English language testing{\textquoteright}. Findings show that security is a prominent topic in the tender; prospective bidders are required to meet detailed security requirements and to police sub-contractors, and social actors, spaces, objects, policies and procedures are routinely described in securitized terms. Implications are drawn for understanding the role of language tests within broader securitization processes.",
keywords = "language testing, discourse analysis, SELT",
author = "Luke Harding and Tineke Brunfaut and Unger, {Johann Wolfgang}",
year = "2020",
month = oct,
day = "1",
doi = "10.1093/applin/amz017",
language = "English",
volume = "41",
pages = "662–687",
journal = "Applied Linguistics",
issn = "0142-6001",
publisher = "Oxford University Press",
number = "5",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - Language testing in the ‘hostile environment’

T2 - The discursive construction of ‘secure English language testing’ in the United Kingdom

AU - Harding, Luke

AU - Brunfaut, Tineke

AU - Unger, Johann Wolfgang

PY - 2020/10/1

Y1 - 2020/10/1

N2 - In parallel with an increased focus on border security in immigration and citizenship policy in the United Kingdom (the so-called ‘hostile environment’ policy), Government-approved English language tests for visa and immigration purposes were officially labelled ‘Secure English Language Tests’ (SELTs) in 2010. The proximity of security concerns in language testing with broader national immigration policy objectives suggests a complex role for language tests as gatekeeping devices. This paper draws on critical discourse studies to explore this issue. Documents provided in the 2014 tender round for selecting Secure English Language Tests (acquired through a Freedom of Information request) were analysed through a discourse-historical lens (Reisigl & Wodak 2016) to map salient topics and identify discursive strategies used to construct ‘secure English language testing’. Findings show that security is a prominent topic in the tender; prospective bidders are required to meet detailed security requirements and to police sub-contractors, and social actors, spaces, objects, policies and procedures are routinely described in securitized terms. Implications are drawn for understanding the role of language tests within broader securitization processes.

AB - In parallel with an increased focus on border security in immigration and citizenship policy in the United Kingdom (the so-called ‘hostile environment’ policy), Government-approved English language tests for visa and immigration purposes were officially labelled ‘Secure English Language Tests’ (SELTs) in 2010. The proximity of security concerns in language testing with broader national immigration policy objectives suggests a complex role for language tests as gatekeeping devices. This paper draws on critical discourse studies to explore this issue. Documents provided in the 2014 tender round for selecting Secure English Language Tests (acquired through a Freedom of Information request) were analysed through a discourse-historical lens (Reisigl & Wodak 2016) to map salient topics and identify discursive strategies used to construct ‘secure English language testing’. Findings show that security is a prominent topic in the tender; prospective bidders are required to meet detailed security requirements and to police sub-contractors, and social actors, spaces, objects, policies and procedures are routinely described in securitized terms. Implications are drawn for understanding the role of language tests within broader securitization processes.

KW - language testing

KW - discourse analysis

KW - SELT

U2 - 10.1093/applin/amz017

DO - 10.1093/applin/amz017

M3 - Journal article

VL - 41

SP - 662

EP - 687

JO - Applied Linguistics

JF - Applied Linguistics

SN - 0142-6001

IS - 5

ER -