ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses arguments regarding consequences of assessments in the context of immigration and citizenship. In the context of immigration and citizenship, consequences of performing well or not on language assessments are serious, as test takers' careers, and travel and stay plans could be altered. In the 1960s, the US shifted its thinking regarding immigration. The consequences of an assessment based on how test takers perform could also be linked to the quality of the assessment. Whereas the consequences of an assessment in the educational context at the micro level involve every test taker of an assessment, at the macro level, consequences involve the teacher, the school, the teaching, the learning, the syllabus and textbook writers, and the community. This effect is termed the "washback" of an assessment. Under the consequences-as-indicators model, the evaluation of consequences helps to validate score interpretations.
