EDCT 5292 - Assessing Language Ability

Course Description

Explores why language assessment is important and considers how teachers can assess language skills on an ongoing basis. Begins by exploring the value, design, and scoring of language assessments, and then investigates the importance of analyzing the results of a language measure. To help translate theory into practice, participants will also learn a teacher-friendly means for calculating item difficulty and review a checklist for evaluating a language measure. Enables participants to look through key concerns related to both the teaching and assessing of written language, describe possible formats for assessing written expression, and identify and critique scales that have been used to assess essays. Finally, the course concludes with an investigation of ways to conduct performance assessments, how computer-assisted language testing differs from traditional assessment, and guidelines for the ethical use of tests.