Does Language Assessment Facilitate Recent Immigrants' Participation in Canadian Society

Abstract

Reviewing studies of the functions of language assessment for recent immigrants to Canada, this article suggests that a fundamental criterion-whether or not language assessment facilitates immigrants' participation in Canadian society-be used to evaluate whether assessment practices and policies are able (1) to overcome institutional or systemic barriers that recent immigrants may encounter, (2) to account for the range and qualities of language use that may be fundamental to specific aspects of Canadian life, and (3) to prompt majority populations and institutions to better accommodate minority populations.