Judit Kormos, Lancaster University

Abstract

Fairness and inclusion in assessing the language skills of neurodiverse students

The number of neurodiverse students in language classrooms is increasing, yet traditional assessment practices may create unfair barriers through test design and implementation (Kormos & Taylor, 2020; Taylor & Banerjee, 2023). This presentation will give a comprehensive overview of what makes a test accessible and inclusive from the perspective of neurodiverse students, with a focus on specific learning difficulties (SpLDs) such as dyslexia and ADHD. In the presentation, I will discuss three main issues in relation to inclusive assessment: special arrangements, accessibility, and universal design. First, I will consider how special arrangements may impact the construct being assessed and to what extent this might influence the validity of the test. Given the need for special arrangements for certain test-taker groups (Inoue & Taylor, 2025), the presentation will also provide an overview of how accommodations might be differentially beneficial for neurodiverse test takers. I will present findings from my research on how various types of special arrangements, such as time extension, read-aloud, and the use of spell-checkers, might affect the performance of students with SpLDs and their peers without SpLDs. Some of these findings show that everyone might benefit from certain types of special arrangements, which suggests that test takers in general may not be able to demonstrate the full extent of their knowledge under standard test administration conditions. Therefore, the second and third themes of the presentation will focus on accessibility and universal design (Christensen et al., 2023), which aim to ensure that the diverse needs of individuals are met flexibly so that language learners have equitable opportunities to display their knowledge in classroom and high-stakes assessment.

References

Christensen, L. L., Shyyan, V. V., & MacMillan, F. (2023). Toward a systematic accessibility review process for English language proficiency tests for young learners. Language Testing. https://doi.org/10.1177/02655322231168386
Inoue, C., & Taylor, L. (2025). Safeguarding equity, access and inclusion in IELTS: A comprehensive review and audit of special arrangements offered to IELTS test-takers with accessibility requirements. IELTS Research Reports Online Series, No. 3/25. British Council, IDP IELTS, and Cambridge University Press & Assessment. https://ielts.org/researchers/our-research/research-reports
Kormos, J., & Taylor, L. B. (2020). Testing the L2 of learners with specific learning difficulties. In P. Winke & T. Brunfaut (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of second language acquisition and language testing (pp. 413-421). Routledge.
Taylor, L., & Banerjee, J. (2023). Language assessment accommodations: Issues and challenges for the future. Language Testing, 40(4), 1000-1006. https://doi.org/10.1177/02655322231186222

Bio

Judit Kormos is a Professor in Second Language Acquisition at Lancaster University and a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia.

She has published widely on the effect of dyslexia on learning additional languages, including a book entitled The second language learning processes of students with specific learning difficulties (SpLDs). She is the author of several research papers that have investigated the accessibility of language tests for candidates with SpLDs. She has advised numerous language testing organizations on their access arrangement policies for test-takers with disabilities. She was a key partner in the award-winning DysTEFL project sponsored by the European Commission, and a lead educator in the Dyslexia and Foreign Language Teaching massive open online learning course offered by FutureLearn.