Free Online Course by British Council: Language Assessment in the Classroom

Improve your knowledge of and skills in language assessment

In the last 15 years, assessment has had an increasingly significant impact on education policy globally. Consequently, there is a growing need among teachers to understand how assessment works.

In this course, you will learn about the principles of sound language assessment. You will develop an understanding of the ideas in developing different types of test and how they can be applied. With guidance from experienced test developers and international assessment experts, you will explore practical ways of assessing language and skills which you can use in your classroom.

What topics will you cover?

Principles of language assessment
Formative and summative assessment
Positive washback
Assessment and testing
Assessing speaking
Formats, tasks and settings
Rating scales
Assessing writing
Assessment tasks
Marking criteria
Feedback
Assessing reading
Meaningfulness and authenticity
Developing reading tests
Scoring reading tests
Assessing listening
Task types for listening assessment
Scoring listening tests
Assessing grammar and vocabulary
Principles of testing grammar and vocabulary
Test development
Assessment and course planning
Approaches to testing
The test development cycle
Evaluating the effectiveness of a test

Who is the course for?

This course is aimed at language teachers in secondary or high schools around the world, and anyone interested in understanding how language assessment works.

You will need to have English language proficiency at a minimum CEFR B1 level to get most benefit from the course.

The course does not presume or require any previous knowledge of assessment issues.

Who will you learn with?

Richard Spiby

I work with the Assessment Research Group at the British Council in London. I work on a variety of test development and research projects, including the Aptis test.

Carolyn Westbrook

Now a member of the Assessment Research Group at the British Council, I was previously an Associate Professor in EFL, focusing on teaching & testing Business English, EAP & ESP, and a teacher trainer.