Читать книгу Focus on Assessment - Eunice Eunhee Jang - Страница 6

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Language assessment is a purposeful activity that gathers information about students’ language development. It is a means to a wide range of educational ends and is fundamental to all educational pursuits. It is a practice that involves multiple people in specific socio-cultural contexts. Assessment is not a tool whose value is judged technically nor is it a panacea that can solve all educational and social problems. It is an activity whose primary purpose is pedagogical, that is, to help teachers plan instruction and guide student learning. If assessment results are not used to inform instruction and improve student learning, they are of little use. This disconnect between assessment and instruction happens in some contexts where educational reforms are driven by mass testing and where testing becomes the end in itself. If assessment is purposefully used, it has effects on people and their surroundings, even though not all effects will be positive, intended, or clear.