s competence 4. Assessment literacy 5.

Assessment literacy principles, barriers and challenges References

Fulcher, G., 2010. Practical Language Testing. Abingdon, Oxon: Hodder Education. pp.1-21. Green, A., 2013.
Exploring Language Assessment and Testing. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. Chapters 1 and 2. Hughes, A.,
2003. Testing for Language Teachers. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp.1-8, 11-26.
Promoting Sustainable Excellence in Testing and Assessment of English Financed by the TEMPUS
programme of the European Union 11 Detailed notes for lecturers (1 academic hour) 1. The lecturer starts
the discussion on the growth of testing and assessment worldwide: Who needs assessment and why? The
lecturer can refer to the National standards introduced within the Russian system of education. The
situation in Russia can be seen as part of a global boom in testing and assessment. Why do students think
this is happening? Do they think it is a positive development? 2. After eliciting some ideas from the students
– what do they understand by the word ‘literacy’? - the lecturer comments on slide 4: how does this defi
nition of literacy fi t with what the students answered? What different kinds of ‘literacies’ have the students
heard of? What do they mean? 3. Slides 5 to 11 explore different kinds of literacy. The lecturer introduces
the expanding concept of literacy and discusses the difference/relationship between literacy and
competence. 4. Slide 12 reviews what has been covered so far. How would the students describe their own
knowledge of assessment and testing using the phrases listed? 5. Slide 13: The lecturer moves to the
presentation of the assessment literacy concept (slide13) and asks the students about the potential
stakeholders. 6. Before describing the main components of assessment literacy the lecturer asks the
students to brainstorm responses to the questions: Why is it necessary or important? And who needs it? 7.
Slide 15-16: How does this list compare with the students’ ideas? How would each of these groups be
involved with language assessments? 8. Slide 17: What do students think each of the groups might need to
know in order to use assessments effectively? 9. Slide 18: The lecturer briefl y outlines the main principles of
assessment literacy without going into details. What questions do students have about this list? What might
they add? Do they disagree with anything? What is most important? 10. The lecturer asks the students to
work in small groups and to identify possible attitudes towards tests and barriers to assessment literacy for
different stakeholders (policy-makers, administrators, teachers, parents, the general public), and then elicits
some ideas from the students. 11. Slide 22: The basic point here is that assessing language is not
straightforward. Because we can’t see it in the same way that we can see height or distance, people
disagree about what it is and how to measure it. 12. Slides 23-26: The key point is made on slide 26: the
lecturer should not try to explain ‘test qualities’ in any detail at this point, but should make it clear that
building a good quality assessment requires attention to a lot of elements. They will be dealt with later in
the course. 13. Slide 27: Before showing slide 27, ask students to give reasons why people might not have a
good understanding of testing and assessment. Do their ideas match the ones on the slide? Answer key for
lecture tasks Language tests are used worldwide far more than ever before, especially in:  education; 
employment;  migration and citizenship policy. Teachers (and others) are increasingly involved in
developing tests and using test scores, but often lack the background or training in assessment. Standards,
ethical codes, and guidelines for good testing practice have been developed, but these are complex and can
make language testing seem too technical and specialized - best left to experts. Fundamentally, people who
use tests need to understand: Promoting Sustainable Excellence in Testing and Assessment of English
Financed by the TEMPUS programme of the European Union 12  what tests and assessments measure and
describe;  what assessment results and test scores mean;  how assessment results and test scores can
(and can’t) help them to make decisions;  how to integrate assessments and tests with teaching and
learning. In particular, there is a lack of general understanding about the amount of imprecision or error
involved in all measurement, but especially in the measurement of mental abilities. People often believe
that test scores are either entirely accurate or entirely inaccurate. In practice, language assessment involves
recognising and trying to estimate the uncertainty involved in measuring language ability. Literacies The
idea of literacy as the ability to read and write has expanded into new areas.  Academic literacy – an
understanding of what it means to become a member of an academic fi eld of specialisation: a community
that thinks about an academic subject in certain ways.  Computer literacy - during the 1990s, knowledge,
skills, and expertise in using computers, once restricted to specialists, spread across society. New groups
have become ‘computer literate’. Of particular relevance to assessment are ideas about:  Civic literacy –
having the knowledge and skills to play a positive and active role in society;  Risk literacy – understanding
the relative risks involved in different courses of action. The term assessment literacy is now used to
describe what different groups of stakeholders need to know about testing and assessment. Different
stakeholders need different levels of assessment literacy.  Developers of national and international tests
require highly developed expertise in the principles and practice of assessment.  Language teachers and
instructors need assessment training covering assessment design, administration, and interpretation of
results.  Other users of results – e.g., policymakers, parents, employers – need to be able to understand
and make effective use of assessment results. At the moment, teachers and the wider public have too little
understanding. This needs to change. Components of Assessment Literacy Assessment literacy involves
skills, knowledge and principles (Davies, 2008). Skills are the training in the necessary and appropriate
methodology. They include:  designing language assessments to provide useful information;  preparing
assessment material;  scoring and describing performance;  using software programmes for test delivery;
 statistics for test analysis;  and reporting and communicating results. Knowledge involves understanding
theories of measurement and language. Principles involve social questions: the use of language
assessments, fairness and impact, ethics and professionalism. Promoting Sustainable Excellence in Testing
and Assessment of English Financed by the TEMPUS programme of the European Union 13 Lecture outline
for students Lecture 1. Socio-cognitive approaches to assessment Type: Interactive lecture based on
PowerPoint presentation Aims:  to refl ect on students’ prior experience of assessment;  to introduce the
notions of context and cognitive validity in a socio-cognitive framework;  to raise awareness of differences
between cognitive processes involved at different levels of language profi ciency;  to familiarize students
with types of tasks employed at different levels of the Common European Framework of Reference for
Languages (CEFR). Outline: 1. Common European Framework of Reference 2. Context validity/Cognitive
validity 3. Cognitive demands at different levels of CEFR 4. Cognitive processing at various levels of language
knowledge illustrated by reading assessment 5. Contextual challenges in reading imposed by text
complexity and length References Fulcher, G., 2010. Practical Language Testing. Abingdon, Oxon: Hodder
Education. pp.1-21. Green, A., 2013. Exploring Language Assessment and Testing. Abingdon, Oxon:
Routledge. Chapters 1 and 2. Hughes, A., 2003. Testing for Language Teachers. 2nd ed. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press. pp.1-8, 11-26. Promoting Sustainable Excellence in Testing and Assessment of
English Financed by the TEMPUS programme of the European Union 14 Detailed notes for lecturers (2
academic hours) 1. Slide 2: Initiate a discussion of this key question: How can test desig