Assessment in the Language Classroom

3347 Words7 Pages

I. Introduction
Assessment is vital to the education process considering that it allows teachers diagnose students’ difficulties, strengths and provide positive, supportive and useful feedback to learners since it measures not only the students’ performance, but also, the progress they are making (Lennon, 2012, p.4). In the same token, an article about classroom assessment states that “assessment is a systematic process of gathering information about what a student knows, is able to do, and is learning to do”. Moreover, the information gathered in the assessment process offers the foundation for decision-making and planning for instruction and learning. To sum up, assessment is an integral part of instruction that enhances, empowers, and celebrates student learning (Classroom Assessment, n.d. p.3).

Regarding the important role that assessment plays in the language classroom, the aim of the paper is to devise a formal progress test for assessing the communicative use of language of a target group. Therefore, to justify the test in relation to its theoretical basis, firstly, the type of test according to purpose will be presented. Secondly it will be discussed whether the test could be considered second, or third generation. Thirdly, the principles of language testing will be outlined in relation to the test designed. Fourthly, relevant scales. Fifthly test description and instructions for marking the test will be described and finally the conclusion will be given.

II. Test Type According to its Purpose
The test type is a progress test, according to Bachman (1990), progress tests supplies relevant information to make adjustments or modifications to the programme. This test was designed for a pre-intermediate class and it was c...

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