"You have no choice:" Pragmatic considerations in current language test instruments

“You have no choice.” Pragmatic considerations in current language test instruments. Summary This paper explores the often significant, forgotten pragmatic elements hidden within the process of preparing, deciphering and answering items in current English language examinations. Analysing Cambridge Proficiency examinations, the author has identified a ‘pragmatic deficit’ in language test construction which vitiates against validity in many items in internationally accredited tests. Data was subjected to multiple readings using concepts and tools from CDA, sociolinguistics and functional grammar, and the idea of choice as a defining, explicit feature of test tasks was considered. Findings include the development of the concept of pragmatic content in the analysis of test items and an attempt to draw up an instrument to assess the pragmatic value of elements within tests and the candidate thinking involved in tackling them.