A Proposed Design and Rationale of Task-Based Activity as a Learning Assessment

Authors

  • Hayder Al Hamdany The University of Kufa Department of English Language Najaf

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31973/aj.v1i125.37

Abstract

Language assessments are tests used to evaluate student communication ability. They are employed to source information critical to making decisions for education programs. Furthermore, language assessment can indicate a person’s level of ability to acquire, learn and use a new language (Bachman 1990 p. 94). The current article aims to design an English language assessment test to assess the language skills of listening and writing of fourth year students in a senior public secondary school in Iraq. First, the teaching context in which the assessment is designed for will be explained. Next, an illustration of the test’s purpose in language evaluation will be given.  Following, the rationale underling the assessment will be addressed, with reference to theory of language and language learning. Furthermore, construct validity of the test through analysis of the outcomes of the test will be presented. Finally, the detailed procedures and the rubrics of the assessment shall be summarized.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Al-seady, M. 2004, Communicative skills improvement in Iraqi secondary schools, Dar alhurai
Press, Baghdad.
Bachman, LF 1990, Fundamental Consideration in Language Testing, Oxford University
Press, Oxford.
Bachman, LF & Palmer, AS 1996, Language Testing in Practice, Oxford University Press,
Oxford.
Beale, J 2002, ‘Is communicative language teaching a thing of the past?’, in Babel, Vol. 37,
No. 1, Winter 2002, pp. 12-16.
Chamot, A. (2001). The role of learning stratigies in second language acquisition. In M. P.
Breen (Ed.), learners contributions to language learning: new directions in research.
Harlow: Longman.
Cheng, LY & Curtis, A 2004, ‘Washback or backwash: A review of the impact of testing on teaching and learning’ In Washback in language testing: Research contexts and methods, eds. LY Cheng, YJ Watanabe & A Curtis, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Mahwah NJ.
Ellis, R 2003, Task-based Language learning and teaching, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Lantolf, JP 2000, ‘Introducing sociocultural theory’ in Sociocultural theory and second language learning, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Lightbown, PM 2000, ‘Anniversary Article Classroom SLA Research and second language teaching’, Applied Linguistics, 21(4), pp.431-462.
McNamara, TF 1996, ‘Second language performance assessment’ in Measuring Second Language Performance, Longman, London.
McNamara, T 2000, Language Testing, Oxford University Press, New York.
Richards, JC & Rodgers, TS 2001, Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching, 2nd ed,
Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Willis, D & Willis, J 2001 ‘Chapter 25: Task-based language learning’, in Carter, R and
Nunan, D (eds) The Cambridge Guide to Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Published

2018-06-15

Issue

Section

Other studies

How to Cite

A Proposed Design and Rationale of Task-Based Activity as a Learning Assessment. (2018). Al-Adab Journal, 1(125), 15-24. https://doi.org/10.31973/aj.v1i125.37

Publication Dates