An introduction to assessment

Assessment is an important part of teaching and learning and can be useful for measuring a learner's language level or evaluating their progress during or at the end of a course. In language learning, we usually talk about two broad types of assessment: summative and formative. 

Summative assessment 

Learners often think of assessment in terms of tests or exams. These more traditional forms of assessment are called summative assessment, because they 'sum up' a period of study, giving an overall result for what the learner has learned. A summative assessment could also be a task, a conversation, an audio recording or a piece of written work at the end of a topic or unit of study. 

Summative assessments may also be 'high-stakes' tests. By high-stakes, we mean a test that you need to move ahead in your education or career. This could be a test you need to take to move from secondary school to college or university, or to officially certify your English level for a particular job, or to move to another country. 

These types of tests are usually offered by official organisations, like ministries of education or external language test providers.  

Typical high-stakes tests you might have heard of might include: 

• IELTS examination: read more about IELTS
• a B2 First from Cambridge University Press and Assessment: read more about the Cambridge B2 First 
• the British Council's APTIS test: read more about APTIS 

Formative assessment  

Another type of assessment is 'formative' assessment, part of an ongoing cycle of evaluation, implementation and feedback that allows teachers and learners to identify next steps. Formative assessment is a 'low-stakes' type of assessment, as the results of formative assessment are not usually reported externally. Instead, the information gained about how well something has been learned is used to decide what to do next. Following formative feedback, learners often have the chance to improve their work before any summative assessment takes place. Error correction in class can be considered part of formative assessment; we are helping learners by giving feedback that supports their development. Sometimes the term 'feed forward' is used to describe this activity. Formative assessment is often referred to as 'assessment FOR learning' (AfL), as opposed to 'assessment OF learning' (AoL), which is another way to refer to summative assessment. 

Different types of tests 

Another way of looking at assessment is through the lens of different test types. People generally talk about four different types of language tests: 

• diagnostic 
• placement 
• achievement 
• proficiency.  

A diagnostic test gives you insights into what learners already know. It will show you where they are performing well, but also what they need to improve. You might use this type of test at the beginning of a course as part of a needs analysis. This can help you  plan what your learners will study during a course. 

A placement test is used in language schools to identify which class a particular student might join. This type of test is designed to check a learner's level, and can include grammar, speaking and writing. 

You might use an achievement test after a shorter period of study, for example like a weekly test, an end-of-term test or when you complete a section of a coursebook. It shows how much learners have learned from a particular series of lessons, what they have 'achieved'. They can be a useful way of revising the language you've taught. These are usually tests given by teachers. 

Validity and reliability 

A proficiency test gives a global assessment of your current language level and is usually a high-stakes exam, like the ones above. These are usually external tests, independent of the organisation where you are studying. As these tests can make a significant different to people's lives, they usually go through a long process of testing and editing to make sure that they are valid and reliable.  

Validity and reliability are important concepts in the world of test design. For a test to be valid, it needs to test what it says it is testing – for example in a reading or listening test, it's important that questions don't rely heavily on other skills. For a test to be reliable, it needs to produce consistent results with the same or similar populations. 

Rubrics, question types and assessment criteria

Tests often focus on discrete language skills, and a particular exam may include reading, writing, listening, speaking and grammar sections. These can be time-consuming to deliver, particularly when it comes to testing speaking. Reading and listening are often objective; there is a right or wrong answer. These tests include items like multiple-choice tests, gap fills or short note-taking activities.  

Speaking and writing tests need to be evaluated by an examiner, using a set of criteria or rubric. A rubric is an evaluation tool that describes the key criteria for marking and helps make sure that marking is consistent. 

Examiners may assess pronunciation, vocabulary, grammatical accuracy or interaction in a speaking test. For writing, assessment criteria might include coherence, organisation or content.  

When criteria like these are used to judge a piece of work, the type of marking is referred to as criterion-referenced, and examiners need training on how to interpret the criteria that so there is consistency in the results.  

Criteria for assessment of a skill 

Outcomes from many language tests are based now on the Common European Framework of Reference for languages. This framework covers a wide range of languages, and the idea is that we should be able to compare skill levels in different languages across different educational systems – so if you have a B1 level of English or a B1 level of Portuguese, your skills in those languages and what you are able to do in them should be comparable.

It's important that learners are aware of what rubric or assessment criteria are being used when they take a test, so that they are aware of what they need to do and can practise the skills required to be successful.  

Gary Motteram has worked in the field of TESOL since the 1980s, spending most of his time working at the University of Manchester in teacher education. His main interests have been in the role of technology in the support of language learning and language teacher education. He has also served as an item writer and examiner for both Cabridge University Press and Assessment, as well as Trinity.