Til bo’yicha bilimlarni baxolash turlari va me’zonlari

REFLECTION
Think about the case above. Are the issues raised in it familiar to you in your teaching context? How important is assessing students before a course begins? How do you think a teacher could gather information about students?
KEY CONCEPTS
There are eight key concepts in this section: testing; assessment; evaluation; Assessmentfor-Learning; diagnostic assessment; peer-assessment; self-assessment; and continuous assessment. We will briefly explain each one below.
Testing, Assessment, Evaluation. Before learning about any concepts in the field of language assessment and testing, a teacher should be cognizant of the differences among testing, assessment, and evaluation in order to use each in the right place in the right time. There are three popular ter ms in the literature that are sometimes misunderstood and used interchangeably. They are testing, assessment, and evaluation. However, each of these terms has a different meaning, scope, and function. A test is a specific technique for gathering information about students’ knowledge or abilities while assessment is a broader process involving various ways of collecting data including the use of tests. Therefore, a test is a part and a means of assessment; it serves as a tool in this process. Evaluation, in its turn, is the broadest concept out of the three, which encompasses both assessment and a test. It looks at the whole picture of teaching context and functions to make decisions based on the obtained evidence regarding the whole educational setting.
Assessment for learning: Why? How? When? Imagine a doctor and a patient situation: a doctor cannot start treating a patient until one does not learn about the background and the current health condition of the patient. Based on a diagnosis, the doctor then can decide what to start from and how to treat the patient. A doctor gathers information about his/her patient in order to make decisions for treating an illness. In the same manner teachers first need to gather information about their students before commencing the learning process. Those teachers who immediately provide instructions may not be aware of learners’ background knowledge and the strengths and weaknesses of their students, which could have an effect on what is taught. This is called Assessment for Learning. From its name, we can see that Assessment for Learning or more widely known as formative assessment is used with the intention to form knowledge, skills and competencies to develop further (Brown & Abeywickrama, 2010) and reach expected results. Information gathered through any assessment, even summative can be used formatively, thus determining what has been achieved, what needs more attention and how to remediate a certain issue. The effective implementation of Assessment for Learning depends on teachers’ knowledge of its principles and techniques. It is important to consider the aim for a certain formative assessment instrument (what information is needed), the way in which the assessment is administered (what method is used) and finally actions to be taken afterwards (how the gathered information is then used to make changes in teaching and learning). Unfortunately, teachers tend to look at the students’ results obtained at formal assessment period, however, every day of classroom communication is a source for teachers to make their decisions how to teach, where to remediate, and when to act on the issues identified.