LANGTCHG 742
Language Assessment
Please note: this is archived course information from 2016 for LANGTCHG 742.
Description
Semester 1 (on campus), Semester 2 (online)
Assessing learners is an essential part of what language teachers do as they deliver their courses. In some situations, teachers are free to design appropriate assessments that relate to directly to the curriculum and classroom learning objectives. However, it is perhaps more common worldwide that teachers are preparing their students to take a national examination or one of the international tests like IELTS, TOEFL, TOEIC or a Cambridge exam. In both cases, it is important that teachers understand the basic principles of assessment and know what the options are for designing appropriate measures of learners’ knowledge and ability. This in a nutshell is what the course offers in terms of content.
The course is delivered in two modes: on-campus and online. Typically in Semester 1 it is taught as a standard postgraduate LANGTCHG course with a two-hour class each week in the 4-6 pm timeslot, whereas in Semester 2 it is delivered online through the University’s learning management system (which will be Canvas in 2016). In online mode, students contribute to a weekly Discussion Forum and participate in a chat session (which in 2016 will use a video-conferencing system), as well as working through the web-based study guides.
In both modes, the first assignment involves an evaluation of a test or assessment procedure. In Semester 1, the second assignment is based on a class project to develop a test (usually an academic reading test), which is tried out with learners at the University’s English Language Academy. In Semester 2, students work individually on designing and writing a test or assessment procedure, which they can try out in their own context if they have the opportunity.
In Semester Two LANGTCHG 742 will be available only via online delivery.
Availability 2016
Semester 1, repeated Semester 2
Lecturer(s)
Coordinator(s) Professor John Read
Reading/Texts
McNamara, Tim Language testing. Oxford, 2000.
Points
LANGTCHG 742: 15 points
Restrictions
LANGTCHG 401,704
