Language Assessment In Language Schools

In the context of quality management in Language Centres (LC), much attention has been given to language assessment as indicative of the school’s overall performance and areas for possible improvement. Language schools are held accountable for the provision of educational services that meet students’ personal needs, the needs of prospective employers or the job market in general, and at the same time are in line with national and the widely-recognized standards such as the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR). Large-scale assessments offer reliable data on the school’s efficiency, they influence decisions on educational policy, infrastructural investments, curriculum design, relocation of human resources and sometimes even enforce

Also, by providing students with instant feedback they can more actively engage the learners in classroom activities and shape their future learning. Formative assessment is now described in literature as ongoing or continuous assessment, the primary goal of which is to help students develop. It encompasses all kinds of classroom interactions, short quizzes and progress test, interviews, student presentations and projects, written assignments, to name just a few (Shepard, 2006). Students are further encouraged to monitor their own work by reflecting upon the learning goals established by the teacher and trying to identify the

One such challenge is the fact that learners are never evaluated just for the sake of establishing what they know of or how well they speak a foreign language. Assessment is always conducted for a particular reason. There might be some administrative purposes: to place learners in an appropriate instructional level, to qualify them to participate in academic or mobility programs, to promote them to higher positions or to demonstrate that they comply with national accountability requirements. It is also used as part of the program to diagnose the learner’s goals and needs, to motivate learners to advance to higher levels by offering instant feedback. It can also serve as evidence of their progress or measure the effectiveness of teaching methods and curricula. Assessment can also be research-oriented (Jacobs, 1981). One instrument can, on average, perform only several functions, as there is a major distinction between proficiency tests (used commonly for administrative purposes), where learners’ general linguistic competence is measured, and achievement tests that assess what learning outcomes have been achieved from what was taught in a given instructional