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Computer-assisted second language assessment: to the top of the pyramid

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 June 2002

MARIE J. MYERS
Affiliation:
Faculty of Education, Queens University, MacArthur Hall, Kingston, Ontario, Canada, K7L 3N6 (email: myersmj@educ.queensu.ca)

Abstract

With innovative ways available to assess language performance through the use of computer technology, practitioners have to rethink their preferred strategies of language testing. It is necessary to take into account both the new developments in language learning and teaching research and also the latest features computers have to offer to help with language assessment. In addition to best practices developed over the years in the field, it is necessary for provision to be made for authentic assessments of intercultural communication abilities. After a review of the latest language-testing literature and a discussion of the current problems identified in it, this paper explores the latest developments in computer technology and proposes areas of language testing in the light of the new findings. A practical application follows. This is an adaptation, in a school board in Ontario, of the latest evaluation model. The model represents unit planning as an isosceles triangle with assessed assignments stacked in horizontal bands from the base to the vertex, i.e. the top. The suggestion is offered that this approach can be enriched, by changing the triangle into a pyramid with a different model on each side. Access to the four sides by rotation of the pyramid allows a broader range of activities culminating in one final assessment task at the summit.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 2002 Cambridge University Press

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