Key features of assessment
Activity 2
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Before working on this section, note down four problems that can affect the success of language assessments: _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________
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We all experience occasions when the assessments we set 'don't work' very well. This may be because we find that what we have designed fails to assess what we intended it to. Alternatively, the tests may turn out to be too easy or too hard. In marking, the mark scheme may prove to be too inflexible or too permissive, or we may find we are not treating all candidates equally for some reason. When marking and returning work, it may become evident that students were not clear about what it was they were being assessed on. Or we may find the assessment activities prove unduly cumbersome or time-consuming. Finally, over a period of time, we may notice that the type of test we are setting is affecting the way students learn or the way we teach during the course, eg both we and they may just be teaching and learning 'for the test'.
These effects are common in varying degrees to all attempts to assess students and they can be summarized under the following headings:
- Validity
- Reliability
- Transparency
- Practicality
- Washback on teaching
We shall briefly consider each of them in turn.
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