The ability to speak and write effectively is widely recognized as an important skill in many contexts and for many purposes, both personal, educational and professional. Because these skills are considered important in second and foreign language learning contexts, they are often included in performance assessments. The scoring of such performances is, however, a complex undertaking and has attracted much attention, both in first and second language learning contexts. The increasing use of automated scoring systems has added to this complexity in recent years. It is therefore all the more surprising that there is no book available that provides an overview of this topic area - the scoring of second language performances. This monograph fills this gap, by drawing together the latest literature in the area. It focusses on issues relating to both rater-mediated assessments and sets out consideration in relation to automated scoring systems (and other technology) which are increasingly used in our field. This monograph provides a useful introduction to graduate students, researchers, test developers, other practitioners and teachers to this topic which has in many ways dominated the field of language assessment over many decades.

Ute Knoch is the Director of the Language Testing Research Centre at the University of Melbourne. Judith Fairbairn leads on assessment development projects for the British Council's Global Assessments team, which includes project management, assessment design, item writing, rating scale development, test quality assurance and developing bespoke assessment solutions for clients. Yan Jin is a professor of linguistics and applied linguistics at the School of Foreign Languages, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China.

Judith Fairbairn

Ute Knoch

Jin Yan