Zahra Javidanmehr et al./ Elixir Psychology 37 (2011) 3740-3746 3740 Introduction Assessment refers to the systematic gathering of information for the purpose of making decisions or judgments about individuals. In all modern societies people undergo testing for both educational and non-educational purposes. Tests play a pivotal role in individuals’ lives as some key decisions would be made based on the results. The traditional notion of testing has gone under significant changes after the commencement of the era of critical pedagogy and considering learners as a part of broad milieu of society, individuals whose voices and experiences and expectations should be validated in the educational systems. In the new way of testing which, in line with Critical Pedagogy, is called democratic assessment, learners are also participants and have their own “rights” that should be respected. Shohamy (2001), one of the most striking figures in the field of Critical Language Testing, has proposed a comprehensive model counting CLT principles. In her model, she has attempted to enumerate most significant criteria for learners’ voice to be heard. Her model has fifteen features that are presented shortly. Applying the critical perspective facets on assessment she has developed her inclusive CLT framework. The features that should be observed in a critical setting are as follows: 1- Critical language testing is not neutral, but is shaped by cultural, social, political, educational and ideological programs. 2- CLT encourages an active, critical feedback from test-takers. 3- CLT view test-takers as political subjects within a political context. 4- CLT views tests as tools within a context of social and ideological struggle.5- CLT asks questions about which and whose agendas tests serve. 6- CLT claims that testers need to understand the tests they create within a larger vision of society and its use of those tests. 7-CLT examines tests in terms of their measurement and assessment of knowledge vs. their definition and dictation of knowledge. 8- CLT questions the nature of knowledge that tests are based upon: whose knowledge? Independent ‘truth’ or negotiated and challengeable? 9- CLT examines the influence and involvement of the range of stakeholders in a testing context.10- CLT perceives the embeddedness of tests within social and educational systems.11- CLT admits to the limited knowledge of any tester and the need for multiple sources of knowledge.12- CLT challenges the dominant psychometric traditions and considers ‘interpretive’ approaches to assessment that allow for different meanings and interpretations rather than a single absolute truth. 13- CLT considers the meaning of test scores within this interpretive framework, allowing for the possibility of discussion and negotiation across multiple interpretations. 14- CLT challenges the knowledge that tests are based upon and advocates a democratic representation of the multiple groups of society.15- CLT challenges the primacy of the ‘test’ as assessment instrument and considers multiple procedures for interpreting the knowledge of individuals. The present study will take advantages of three main principles of the above mentioned framework to run CLT guidelines in the language classrooms. These principles will be Tele: E-mail addresses: nrashidi@rose.shirazu.ac.ir © 2011 Elixir All rights reserved Critical language assessment: students’ voices at the heart of educational system Zahra Javidanmehr and Nasser Rashidi Department of Foreign Languages and Linguistics, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran. ABSTRACT This study attempted to bring Critical Language Testing principles into practice by means of distributing the power, traditionally hold by teachers as the only source of knowledge, in a more unprejudiced way. The study took advantages of three features of fifteen CLT principles proposed by Shohamy (2001).Based on the first feature, which is encouraging an active, critical response from test-takers; learners could develop an assessment scale including five components which was used in the subsequent steps in their peer assessment. In line with the second principle, which is admitting to the limited knowledge of any tester and the need for multiple sources of knowledge, learners moved toward the leading edge taking the control of assessment process to some extent. Peer assessment as one criterion of democratic assessment was applied. The third principle exploited in the study was considering ‘interpretive’ approaches to assessment that allow for different meanings and interpretations rather than a single absolute truth. Students’ scores were reported by both quantitative and interpretive modes with some suggestive sentences. In this way learners’ voices are validated. After that and in line with “consequential validity” as one component of alternative assessment, it went through completing the process by bringing testees’ problematic areas into the teaching syllabus in a systematic way. With a qualitative study learners’ (the most critical figures of all assessment procedures) attitudes toward rejecting or retaining CLT principles were inquired. They, offering one caveat, which was the significance of teacher assessment to them, pronounced the method as a striking system. © 2011 Elixir All rights reserved. ARTICLE INFO Article history: Received: 5 June 2011; Received in revised form: 17 July 2011; Accepted: 27 July 2011; Keywords Critical Language Assessment, Critical pedagogy, Peer assessment, Consequential validity. Elixir Psychology 37 (2011) 3740-3746 Psychology Available online at www.elixirpublishers.com (Elixir International Journal)