This contribution focuses on tests - language and other kinds - in which texts are used and (verbal) questions posed. Language tests and others raise a number of professional and ethical questions, including whether it is possible to create tests without also considering the complex processes of understanding. On a seminar course we shall look at specific tests in order to identify the good and bad qualities of tasks and questions in tests, what are the professional demands of contemporary (language) testing, and which ethical principles should be taken into account and why. Although our discussion will be guided by the assumption that tests usually represent an argument of power, we shall also seek possible ways in which they could be supported by the power of argument.
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