Foreign language test for people with disabilities: basic requirements and specifics of development

Abstract

The article describes the specifics of developing a foreign language test for people with disabilities. It is obvious that such tests have differences in organization and content compared to tests for ordinary students. They have structural, content, functional flexibility and variability depending on the type of violation. The article also notes the importance of taking into account discursive characteristics for determining test situations and selecting language, speech, and communication material while creating each specific test. It is revealed that testers and testologists should have the inclusive competence to develop test materials and conduct the exam. Such inclusive features should be taken into account while creating materials for testing in a foreign language for people with disabilities. To prove that consideration of these features is necessary, an experiment was conducted in which 15 students with partial and complete vision loss who plan to take a test for the level of foreign language proficiency participated. The students were from different countries: Syria, Egypt, and China. The analysis of respondents ' responses showed that the factors identified in the article are important and should be taken into account in the process of preparing test materials. The results obtained can be used by creators of test materials for people with disabilities, scientists who are engaged in related research in this area.