The very last READING REFLECTION of the semester: Assessment and Teaching

I am not sure whether this is just a coincidence or a purposeful arrangement, but this week's reading comes at a very sensitive and presumably right time of the semester and touches on an issue that is of great concern to students and teachers alike.

As a student i (and i am sure i am not alone when it comes to this matter) have always wished that we could just go to class and study without having to take any tests and exams. School life would be much less stressful and easier to students then, but at the same time it has to be taken into consideration that without tests, exams and other assessment methods, it would be very likely that students would get out of school with a mostly blank mind! And in my opinion, this may be one of the reasons why testing and assessment have, for a long time, become an indispensable part of every school system, or as stated in the book: "a way of life".

Personally i find the principles of language assessment presented in the book extremely helpful and practical, especially to novice teachers who have little experience in test designing. Among these principles, validity is, in my opinion, the most important and also most difficult requirement to meet, since this feature dictates the overall quality of the test as well as the extent to which the teacher is aware of what he/she is teaching and the students' performance.

Another issue which captures my attention is ethical matters in language assessment. While standardized exams produce reliable reflections of the language proficiency level of test-takers, they do not take into account many individual differences that may adversely affect learner performance in the test. I have a couple of friends who are very good language learners in class, but always struggle when it comes to exams. The reason is because they do not work well under the pressure of time constraint and thus usually do not have enough time to finish the test. This brings it home to me that a variety of language assessment methods should be implemented in the language classroom in order to reduce the level of stress and anxieties that students may suffer. Continuous long-term assessment is also preferable and should be given priority in language teaching.