Winner of the SAGE/ILTA Award for Best Book on Language Testing 2009, this volume focuses on the social aspects of language testing, including assessment of socially situated language use and societal consequences of language tests. The authors argue that traditional approaches to ensuring social fairness in tests go some way to addressing social concerns, but a broader perspective is necessary to examine the functions of tests on a societal scale. This title considers these issues in relation to language assessment in oral proficiency interviews, and to the assessment of second language pragmatics. It argues that traditional approaches to ensuring social fairness in tests go some way to addressing social concerns, but a broader perspective is necessary if we are to fully understand the social dimension of language assessment.