The education uses of Language

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Recommended: Roles of assessment in learning

1. Introduction

Assessment refers to the process of making a judgement or forming an opinion, after considering something or someone carefully. The most interesting thing here is the word process. The purpose of most forms of assessment in the English Language classroom should be to inform people of how much progress a student is making. Assessment can take many different forms and does not need to be limited to tests and exams.

2. What are some of the ways in which language assessment can be used for improving the standards of teaching and learning?

Before discussing the different ways of language assessment, it would be pertinent to look into the purposes of assessment. Language assessment is done

• To provide feedback to learners on their progress i.e. what they have done well and what they need to improve.

• To provide feedback to learners on their achievement i.e. how much they have learned at a particular point in the course

• To get information about learners’ ability to understand or use target language structures or vocabulary

• To help teachers know how to help their learners.

• To find out whether learners like or dislike specific classroom activities

• For diagnostic purposes: to use information about learners’ strengths and weaknesses to provide information which can feed into planning.

• To let learners know what standards they need to reach.

• To provide records for schools

• To provide information to parents

• To get feedback on your teaching

Language assessment can take on different forms and may involve a huge variety of tasks/items. The commonly used ways of assessment are:

2.1. Formative assessment

This is developmental. It provides information about learners’ understanding and helps to iden...

... middle of paper ...

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Qi, L. (2007). Is testing an efficient agent for pedagogical change? Examining the intended

washback of the writing task in a high-stakes English test in China. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy and Practice, 14 (1), 51-74.

Duran, R.P., Canale, M., Penfield, J., Stansfield, C.W, & Lisken-Gasparro, J.E. (1985).

TOEFL from a communicative viewpoint on language proficiency: a working paper. Research Reports, 17, Princeton, NJ: Educational Testing Service.

Fox, J. (2004). Test decisions over time: Tracking validity. Language Testing, 21 (4),

437-465.

Bailey, K.M. (1996). Working for washback: A review of the washback concept in language

testing. Language Testing, 13, 257-279.

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