GED3840

Assessment in foreign and second-language education

Dr M M Gearon

12 points - 3 hours per week - First semester - Clayton

Objectives Upon successful completion of this subject, students should have developed knowledge and understanding of assessment in second-language teaching or learning; produced a glossary of key terms related to measuring second-language proficiency; examined and developed profiles as a means of measuring and reporting on learners' progress in a second language; designed a range of measurement items and instruments to test learners' knowledge of and skills in the second language; developed an understanding of the relationship between the nature of language and the nature of second-language acquisition and measured learners' progress in a second language; developed and trialled different ways of assessing second-language proficiency and reporting this to learners; critically evaluated existing assessment schemes in TESOL and/or LOTE.

Synopsis This subject introduces practising teachers of foreign/second languages to the theory and practice of assessment of proficiency in a foreign or second language, and in particular to the assessment of communicative competence. General testing notions such as validity and reliability will be related to the assessment of second-language learning. Assessment procedures will be related to assessment purposes; task types, different reporting styles and washback effect of these procedures will be discussed. Examples of such procedures currently in use in Australia will be discussed and evaluated. The emphasis will be on practical applications to help teachers link assessment to curriculum aims and to improve the quality of their assessment procedures.

Assessment Two assignments (the first, of 2500 words, will involve the evaluation of an existing test or reporting format, and the other, of 3500 words, will involve the production of critical reflections on the set readings and the course content or the development of an assessment procedure and report format for a specific group of second-language learners): 50% each - Participation in class discussions will also be taken into consideration

Prescribed texts

Weir C Understanding and developing language tests Prentice-Hall, 1993

Recommended texts

Hughes A Testing for language teachers CUP, 1989
Weir C Communicative language testing Prentice-Hall, 1990

Back to the 1999 Education Handbook