Language Classroom Assessment, Second Edition

By Liying Cheng and Thomas S.C. Farrell

In the first edition of this book, Dr. Liying Cheng provided an easy-to-follow guide to understanding language classroom assessment, from giving an overview of different forms of assessment to outlining assessment methods and procedures. The second edition of Language Classroom Assessment further explores language assessment, expanding on how to answer the key question: "Have my students learned?"

This edition has also been updated with the newest changes in language assessment research and highlights the interaction of teaching, learning, and assessment. This essential guide provides English language teachers with the knowledge to reflect on their own assessment practices. Dr. Cheng helps you understand and reflect on essential topics, such as:

• The difference between testing and assessment
• The four major aspects of language classroom assessment
• Which assessment tools can support student learning
• The purposes, methods, and procedures for effective assessment
• How to use assessment to motivate student learning
• Demystify the process of assessing language.

Whether you are a new or seasoned teacher, Language Classroom Assessment, Second Edition is an essential resource for anyone who wants to improve their assessment practices.

About the English Language Teacher Development Series
As the English language teaching field continually reinvents itself, the pressure is intense for language teachers to update their knowledge. The English Language Teacher Development Series is a set of short resource books written in an accessible manner for all types of teachers of English. The series offers a theory-to-practice approach, a variety of practical methods, and time for reflections that allow teachers to interact with the materials presented. The books can be used in preservice settings, in-service courses, and by individuals looking for ways to refresh their practice.

• Language: English
• Publisher: TESOL Press
• Release date: Dec 26, 2023
• ISBN: 9781953745378

Liying Cheng

Liying Cheng is an Associate Professor and a Director of the Assessment and Evaluation Group (AEG) at the Faculty of Education, Queen's University. Her primary research interests are the impact of large-scale testing of instruction, and the relationship between assessment and instruction in EFL/ESL classrooms.

Book preview

Series Editor’s Preface

The English Language Teacher Development (ELTD) series consists of a set of short resource books for English language teachers that are written in a jargon-free and accessible manner for all types of teachers of English, including experienced and novice teachers. The ELTD series is designed to offer teachers a theory-to-practice approach to English language teaching, and each book offers a wide variety of practical teaching approaches and methods for the topic at hand. Each book also offers opportunities for teachers to interact with the materials presented. The books can be used in preservice settings or in-service courses and by individuals looking for ways to refresh their practice.

Liying Cheng’s book Language Classroom Assessment explores different approaches to language assessment in the English language classroom. In its second edition, this book provides an updated and comprehensive overview of language testing and assessment in an easy-to-follow guide that language teachers will find very practical for their own contexts. Topics covered include differences between testing and assessment; an overview of research associated with language classroom assessment; assessment practices and tools, procedures, and events and understandings; giving feedback; and learner motivation. Language Classroom Assessment, Second Edition, is a valuable addition to the literature in our profession.

I am very grateful to the authors of the ELTD series for sharing their knowledge and expertise with other English language teaching professionals to make these short books affordable for all language teachers throughout the world. It is truly an honor for me to work again with each of these authors for the advancement of English language teaching.

Thomas S. C. Farrell

CHAPTER 1

Introduction to Language Classroom Assessment

After reading this chapter, you should be able to answer the following questions:

What is language classroom assessment?

What are the four major aspects of language classroom assessment?

What research evidence do you need to know about language assessment?

Definition

Language testing and assessment is a relatively new field within the broad context of applied linguistics and English language teaching, and is primarily focused on English language learners and test-takers. This field consists of test designers, publishers, teachers, and researchers who have a strong interest in and influence on the teaching and learning of English around the world, and the teaching and learning of school subjects through the medium of English in K–12 educational settings. The field also includes testing of languages other than English (e.g., the testing of Chinese as a second or foreign language and the testing of languages in other bilingual and multilingual contexts globally). The major theoretical framework that guides the field of language testing and assessment is derived from educational measurement based on classical and modern test theory (e.g., Bachman, 1990; Bachman, 2000) and theories from applied linguistics (e.g., Canale & Swain, 1980; Kremsch, 2008).

The terms testing and assessment are both used in this book to show the historical development of the field. Today, assessment includes both large-scale testing, such as the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) and the International English Language Testing System (IELTS), and the classroom tests and assessments that teachers design and use in their own classrooms. These classroom tests and assessments refer to those administered within the context of the classroom instructional cycle to assist the classroom teacher in planning, guiding, monitoring, or describing the outcomes of instruction (Bonner, 2013, p. 87). The field of language testing and assessment has adopted the term language assessment to include both large-scale language testing and classroom testing. Two major academic research journals in the field reflect this shift in the discourse from testing to assessment: Language Testing, established in 1984, and Language Assessment Quarterly, established in 2004. The establishment of Language Assessment Quarterly followed the major paradigm shift in educational assessment initiated by the milestone publications of Black and Wiliam (1998a, 1998b) on assessment and classroom learning. Black and Wiliam argued that all students can improve through fostering a spirit of cooperation in the classroom, with students actively involved in their own learning. Formative assessment practices that teachers use on a daily basis are to support student learning. Thus, assessment has now