The key lesson to be learnt about all assessment, not just language assessment, is that testing should be closely linked to the learning outcomes of our courses. This means being very precise about what it is we want to measure and selecting a suitable assessment form (eg exam versus portfolio or project) and an appropriate test type (grammar, reading, mixed-skill, etc). None of the tasks described in this module is without its drawbacks; there is, in fact, no such thing as the perfect language test, and the best we can do is to ensure that our chosen instrument of assessment meets as closely as possible the five key criteria of validity, reliability, transparency, practicality and washback.

Just as importantly, we know from, among other things, research into learning styles (see Module 12) that not all learners respond well to the same mode of learning or testing. We are therefore most likely to be fair to students and to allow them every opportunity to show their ability, if we ensure our assessment procedures feature a range of methods and tasks. This means combining communicative tests (eg free writing) with those that focus on sub-skills (eg grammar exercises) and balancing subjectively marked tasks (eg oral interviews) with more objective ones (eg completion of a negotiation task).

Activity 30
The following is a self-assessment exercise on this module. Referring back, as necessary, to the relevant section in the right-hand column, write a short paragraph about each of the following statements: