An Introduction to Language Assessment: Adopting, Adapting and Developing Strategiesin Rassegna Italiana di Linguistica Applicata

Helping students to maximise their performance so as to meet the common goals set out by the Council of Europe runs up against an obstacle when it comes to assessment. This paper analyses the various assessment strategies available, describing both how they function and for whom they are most useful and explores the challenges surrounding assessment in online education. Particular attention is given to the need to develop a more student-centred approach counterbalancing the traditional “assessment of learning” with a more holistic “assessment for learning” (Morgan 2008). The dynamics of the “formative assessment” and its role in the learning process are discussed, as well as its particular suitability in evaluating skills as opposed to mere factual knowledge, the traditional preserve of “summative assessment”. I shall consider assessment design and how this can best serve the learner, as well as the assessor, to fit the needs and demands of today’s information and knowledge societies.