ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces teachers and students of applied linguistics to the key concepts and terminology needed to understand the role of standardised language testing and of assessment in the language classroom, and to utilise the testing and assessment literature. This potential shift in the use of test scores from the assessment of individual learning to reporting average group performance can be used to evaluate teachers and educational institutions. In language testing, the most commonly used standards documents are those of the American Council on Teaching English as a Foreign Language (ACTFL), the Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB) and the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) in Europe. Reverse engineering is the process of analysing the content of the test in order to recreate the specification. The language classroom has become increasingly complex. As language teachers, they are required to reconcile innumerable conflicting priorities and demands.
