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Summary
The meaning of assessment is how much language students learn. The rage about
assessment is very wide. It’s refers to the act of collecting information and making
judgments about a language learner’s knowledge of a language and ability to use it.
Some people consider that “testing” and “assessment” to be synonymous. It is
departed two assessments: “proficiency assessment” which is concerned with
measuring a person’s general ability, typically for gatekeeping decisions, and
“achievement assessment” which focuses on determining what has been learned as
part of a specific program of instruction, usually for assigning marks. The
fundamental issues in Language assessment are “construct”, “test method” and
“Validation”. Construct refers to what is being inferred on the basis of test scores;
Methods is the systematic procedures set out for collection information and making
judgments for a particular assessment event; Validation is score. There are three
sub-types of Validation that are content validity, criterion-related and construct
validity.
There are many trends about Language Assessment and Language Teaching.
There are “Washback”, “Alternative assessment”, and “Outcomes-based Assessment”.
Washback exercise a negative influence due to the temptation for teachers to spend
time on activities that will help students to succeed in the test and it effects may very
significantly according to individual teacher characteristics. The Alternative
assessment methods using include Observation, Portfolios, and Self-Assessment.
Observation: Information observation of learners’ language use is one of the most
widely used methods of assessment in language classrooms.
Portfolios: it’s identified three types of portfolios: showcase, documentation and
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evaluation
Self-Assessment: it involves learners in making judgments of their language ability
and achievement of learning goals and objectives.
Comments
After I read this article, I understand there have many types of assessments. And
each type has each function. In my opinion, assessments are very important because
we can depend on the assessments to know whether students understand everything in
the class or not. And if teacher give students assessments, students will be encourage
study more to enhance their ability and get a good grade in language. Most of students
don’t like assessment, but that is useful for learning language.