Tsagari D., Vogt K., Froelich V., Csépes I., Fekete A., Green A., Hamp-Lyons L., Sifakis N., Kordia S. Handbook of Assessment for Language Teachers

Nicosia, Cyprus, 2018. — 228 p.There is evidence that language testing and assessment can have a strong impact on the quality of the learning outcomes (Green, 2013; Tsagari & Cheng, 2016). Therefore, it is important to enhance teachers’ level of Language Assessment Literacy (LAL) (Inbar-Lourie, 2008), that is, their “ability to design, develop and critically evaluate tests and other assessment procedures, as well as the ability to monitor, evaluate, grade and score assessments on the basis of theoretical knowledge” (Vogt & Tsagari, 2014, p. 377). However, research (Vogt and Tsagari, 2014; Tsagari and Vogt, 2017) has shown that English language teachers often lack sufficient understanding of the nature of LAL and are not familiar with the relevant assessment techniques and methods to further the language learning experiences of their students.
We therefore developed an online, self-study (Moodle-based), training course (http://taleproject.eu) that can be used by pre- and in-service teachers of English (and other foreign) languages as well as teacher trainers to raise their awareness and levels of LAL. The training materials included in this Handbook are based on the online training course and consist of eight chapters plus a glossary, all of which cover a variety of theoretical and practical issues. Each chapter comprises several tasks which acquaint teachers and trainers with a wide repertoire of useful assessment methods, techniques and tools so that they can enhance their language assessment literacy.The ABCs of Assessment:
Purpose of Assessment
Task 1. Purposes of assessment
Task 2. Approaches to assessment
Types of Assessment
Task 1. assessment tasks
Task 2. assessment tasks specifications
Recording and Reporting outcomes
Task 1. Systems for recording judgements
Task 2 Assessment feedback
Qualities of assessment
Task 1. Thinking about qualities
Task 2. Assessment quotes
Task 3. Practical steps
The ABCs of assessment - Outcomes
Indicative answers
Further reading
References
Assessing Reading Skills
Assessing writing skills
Assessing listening skills
Assessing speaking skills
Providing feedback
Alternatives in Assessment
Test impact
Glossary