Unit name | Testing and Assessment in Language Learning |
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Unit code | EDUCD0099 |
Credit points | 20 |
Level of study | D/8 |
Teaching block(s) |
Academic Year (weeks 1 - 52) |
Unit director | Professor. Yu |
Open unit status | Not open |
Pre-requisites |
Understanding Educational Research |
Co-requisites |
Language and Communication, Researching Language Classrooms, Testing and Assessment in Language Learning |
School/department | School of Education |
Faculty | Faculty of Social Sciences and Law |
This unit provides an overview of current developments in theories and practices of language testing and assessment. We explore approaches and the processes of language test construction and validation as well as classroom-based assessment, and review current developments in the field through consideration of the principles underlying best practice in language testing and assessment. We focus on the development and validation of tests and other procedures used to assess the language development, achievement and proficiency of speakers of English as a foreign or additional language, and the research methods relevant to these tasks. Indicative content areas include language assessment as socially situated practice, assessment for learning, the Common European Framework of Reference, assessment of different language skills (e.g., the development and validation of rating scales, integrated writing tasks, observation driven approaches to classroom/teacher assessment, self-/peer-assessment), washback, and power, and ethics and fairness in language testing as social practice.
Aims:
The unit will provide students with the opportunity:
By participating in this unit, students will understand
There are two options, each of 4,000 words. Students will either:
Critically analyse a published testing and assessment study, with reference to relevant theoretical / conceptual frameworks, the methods, the claims and findings of the research.
or
Outline a proposal for an empirical research study addressing a current theoretical or curricular issue in language testing and assessment, which includes a focussed literature review, research questions and procedures for data collection and data analysis.