Call For Papers - 2028 (Spring) Special Issue - Rethinking Evidence of Language Learning: Emerging Perspectives on Assessment

2026-10-25

Rethinking Evidence of Language Learning: Emerging Perspectives on Assessment

Assessment is fundamentally concerned with the collection and interpretation of evidence to support claims about language learning and proficiency. As language use, learning environments, and assessment practices continue to evolve, long-standing assumptions about what constitutes valid evidence of language ability are increasingly being reconsidered.

Traditionally, language assessment has relied heavily on observable products such as essays, test scores, and monologic oral performances. Increasingly, however, researchers and practitioners are exploring a broader range of evidence, including learning processes, interactional and co-constructed performances, learner development, plurilingual language practices, culturally situated ways of demonstrating competence, technology-mediated communication, and data generated through digital learning environments. These developments raise important questions regarding assessment design, construct representation, validity, fairness, and the role of professional judgment in interpreting assessment evidence.

This special issue seeks to examine how language assessment is responding to an expanding evidentiary landscape. Drawing on perspectives from learning-oriented and dynamic assessment, interactional competence, plurilingual and decolonial approaches, learning analytics, assessment literacy, and AI-mediated communication and assessment, the issue invites scholarship that explores new sources of evidence, evolving assessment practices, and the implications of these developments for language learning, teaching, and assessment.

Central Question of the Special Issue:

What counts as evidence of language learning and proficiency, and how should that evidence be collected, interpreted, and used in contemporary assessment contexts?

Potential Topics
  • Assessment evidence and validity
  • Learning-oriented and dynamic assessment
  • Process-oriented assessment and learner development
  • Interactional competence and collaborative and co-constructed performance
  • Assessment in technology-mediated environments
  • Assessment considering plurilingual, Indigenous, and/or decolonial perspectives
  • Generative AI and language assessment
  • Learning analytics and emerging forms of evidence
  • Human judgment, assessment literacy, and professional expertise
  • Fairness, ethics, and inclusion in assessment
  • Classroom, institutional, workplace, and policy perspectives on assessment

Papers in English and French will be considered and can focus on research concerning any second, additional, minority, heritage, or Indigenous language, not just English or French. Submission reporting on research conducted outside of Canada are welcome; however, authors will be asked to discussed the implications of their research for Canadian contexts. We welcome papers for inclusion in one of three sections: “Full-Length Research Articles” (original research), “Perspectives” (theoretical explorations of relevant issues), and “In the Classroom” (pedagogical focus). Please refer to the TESL Canada Journal author guidelines for more information: http://www.teslcanadajournal.ca/index.php/tesl/about/submissions

Important Dates

  • Interested authors are invited to submit a 400-word abstract (including references) to teslcanadajournal@tesl.ca by February 1, 2027.
  • Notice of abstract acceptance will be emailed by March 1, 2027.
  • Full manuscripts are due June 15, 2027, and will be subject to a rigorous double-blind review process.
  • The special issue will be published in Spring 2028.

If you have any questions or queries about this special issue, please contact Heike Neumann at heike.neumann@concordia.ca