PART　1　Understanding Language Assessment

UNIT 1. Purpose of Assessment
·Introduction of the Purpose of Assessment　2
·What is Assessment: Measurement, Testing, Assessment, and Evaluation　3
·The Importance of Assessment in L2 Learning　4
·Purpose of Assessment: Aptitude, Diagnostic, Placement, Achievement, and Proficiency Tests 　　6
·Exercises　10

UNIT 2. Types of Language Assessment
·Introduction of the Types of Language Assessment　12
·Types of Language Assessment 13
·Formative vs. Summative Assessment 13
·Informal vs. Formal Assessment 14
·Norm-Referenced vs. Criterion-Referenced 15
·Discrete-point vs. Integrative Tests 15
·Direct vs. Indirect Testing 17
·Trends of Traditional, Alternative, and Dynamic Assessment 19
·Influencing Theories: Behavioral Psychology, Structural Linguistics, and Psychometric Structuralism 20
·Alternative Assessment 21
·Influencing Theories on Alternative Assessment: CLT 22
·Dynamic Assessment 24
·Influencing Theories on Dynamic Assessment: Vygotsky’s Theory and ZPD 26
·Relationships among Three Assessment Approaches 27
·Exercises 31

UNIT 3. Quality of Assessment
·Introduction to Quality of Assessment 33
·Reliability Issues 34
·Rater Reliability 35
·Test Reliability 37
·Validity Issues 38
·Practicality 47
·Authenticity 48
·Fairness Issues 49
·The Relationship between Reliability and Validity 50
·Correlation in Language Assessment 52
·Exercises 56

PART　2　Developing Assessment Tools in the classroom

UNIT 4. Test Specification
·The introduction of the Test Specification 60
·What is Test Specification in L2 Testing? 61
·Writing Up Test Specification 64
·Illustrative Action Verbs for Defining Objectives 69
·Types of Test Items: Multiple-choice, Cloze test, Short-response, Essay 70
·Elicitation/Response Mode in Test Construction 73
·Exercises / 79

UNIT 5. Descriptive Statistics
·Introduction to Descriptive Statistics in Test Analysis 81
·Types of Numerical Scales 82
·Descriptive Statistics 84
·The Concept of Normal Distribution 91
·Exercises　101

UNIT 6. Developing Scoring Criteria
·Scoring of Performance-based Assessment 103
·Types of Scoring Methods 104
·Scoring in Classical Objective Tests 110
·Exercises 116

UNIT 7. Teacher-made Criterion-referenced Tests and Standardized Norm-referenced Tests ·Introduction of the CRTs and NRTs 117
·Teacher-Made Criterion-Referenced Tests 118
·Standardized Norm-Referenced Tests 123
·Exercises 128

PART　3　Assessing Language Ability

UNIT 8. Assessing Listening
·Introduction to Assessing L2 Learners’ Listening Ability 130
·How to Assess L2 learners’ Listening Ability in the Classroom 131
·Nature of L2 Listening Ability 132
·Types of Listening Skills: Micro-skills and Macro-skills 133
·Types of L2 Listening Strategies 135
·How to Design an Effective Listening Task for L2 Learners 138
·Exercises 144

UNIT 9. Assessing Reading
·Introduction to Assessing L2 Learners’ Reading Ability 145
·How to Assess L2 Learners’ Reading Ability in the Classroom 146
·Types of Reading Skills: Micro-skills and Macro-skills 150
·Types of Reading Strategies 152
·How to Design an Effective Reading Task for L2 Learners 154
·Exercises 163

UNIT 10. Assessing Speaking
·Introduction to L2 Speaking Ability Assessment 165
·Nature of L2 Speaking Ability 166
·Types of Speaking Skills: Micro-skills and Macro-skills 167
·How to Design an Effective Speaking Task for L2 Learners 171
·Exercises 185

UNIT 11. Assessing Writing
·Introduction to L2 Writing Ability Assessment 187
·Nature of L2 Writing Ability 188
·Types of Writing Genres 190
·Types of Writing Skills: Micro-skills, Macro-skills, and Writing Strategies 192
·How to Design an Effective Writing Task for L2 Learners 195
·Standardized Tests of Writing Tasks 202
·Exercises 207

UNIT 12. Assessing Grammar and Vocabulary
·Introduction to Assessing L2 Learners’ Grammar and Vocabulary 209
·Assessing L2 Learners’ Grammar Ability 210
·How to Design an Effective Grammar Task for L2 Learners 213
·Assessing L2 Learners’ Vocabulary Ability 218
·How to Design an Effective Vocabulary Task for L2 Learners 220
·Effective Strategies to Integrate Grammar and Vocabulary Knowledge 225
·The Relationship between Vocabulary and Reading Comprehension 226
·The Relationship between Vocabulary and Writing Quality 228
·Exercises 232

References 235
Appendix 241