The Government of Canada’s Second Language Evaluation, Test of Written Expression: Exploring Validity

This study aimed to contribute to the literature on the Canadian government's Second Language Evaluation (SLE) by exploring the concept of validity within the context of the Test of Written Expression (TWE). The case-study approach combined stakeholder perspectives of three employee-participants and two teacher-participants along with a verbal protocol of a shortened practice test. The findings indicate that there may be evidence that threatens the validity of the inferences drawn from the TWE. There is additional evidence of negative consequences in terms of washback and impact of the SLE. These findings shed light on issues with the implementation of the Official Languages Act within the public service, suggesting a bottom-up approach to address these issues.