This commentary argues that the OET research raises inescapable contradictions in trying to separate "language" from "communication" within a weak performance test and advocates for reconceptualizing the legitimate domain of "language" more widely, reclaiming the full potential of the communicative competence…

Several issues make standardized assessment of ELLs a challenge and the information provided by these assessments unreliable. However, as educators, they do need to know how students are doing, what gains they are making, where gaps in their understanding exist, and what types of instructional strategies and topics need to be introduced to…

As teachers implement performance-based assessments into their language classrooms, they must provide students with a clear, objective description of their performance and translate this performance into an objective grade. To make the judgment valid and more reliable, a scoring scale referred to as a rubric or scoring rubric can be used. Both…

Addresses issues relating to performance-based learning and serves as a guide to the process of developing a performance task. (Author/VWL)

Describes a performance-based task, within real-life contexts structured specifically for a ninth grade English-as-a-Foreign-Language class. The task--a book project--was used as an alternative assessment of the acquisition and application of English studies as a foreign language in Israeli schools. (Author/VWL)

Washback or backwash, also known as measurement-driven instruction, is a common term in applied linguistics referring to the influence of testing on teaching and learning, which is a prevailing phenomena in education. It is a truism that "what is assessed becomes what is valued, which becomes what is taught." This paper aims to share the…

Addresses the challenges faced in developing a task-based language assessment instrument for adult immigrants in Canada that is accountable to the needs of diverse groups of stakeholders, including learners, teachers, and administrators. The test, the Canadian Language Benchmarks Assessment (CLBA), is designed to place adult newcomers in language…

Describes evaluation and assessment tools that have been devised by one institution as practical and informative ways to report students' results. (Author/VWL)

Examines the role of literature in the acquisition of literacy in English as a Second Language and Nigerian mother tongues. Provides a critique of the Nigerian literacy instruction model, and discusses how to help students acquire effective and efficient literacy. (Author/VWL)

Intended to help students from language-minority backgrounds develop literacy in English, this book identifies and answers the major questions surrounding reading instruction for English as a second language (ESL) students. Specifically, the book reviews and synthesizes what is known about background issues related to the education of ESL…