Language Assessment

There are four major categories of language testing and assessment that Language Testing International provides. As the exclusive test producer for ACTFL, the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, LTI has been producing tests that maintain stringent levels of rigor and validity required for over two decades. Any company that offers a second language service must consider using these types of language tests in order to be a competitive employer, as companies typically offer extra incentives for second language skills. As such, you want to be able to ensure that you are getting your money’s worth by employing an individual who can effectively communicate in the second language.

The first element of language testing and assessment is the spoken test. Any company operating in a foreign country wants to make sure that their employees can effectively speak the language without major difficulty as well as being able to be completely understood. A spoken test measures not only how correct the test taker’s word choice is, but also their use of common vernacular, slang, and conversational tone and inflection. Given that they will be the face of your company, you want to be sure that they are the best representatives possible.

The second element of language testing and assessment is the listening test. Just as you want your employee to be able to effectively speak in the second language, you will want them to be able to understand what is being said to them. As you likely know, this is absolutely vital in any area where your company has to communicate in a second language. A misunderstanding could prove detrimental to your company’s profits and future in a given country or community.

The third part of the language testing and assessment is the reading test. This is an option if you need your employees to be able to read any kind of written communication. This could be anything from asking them to read incoming correspondence and emails to reading local technical manuals or legal documents. As such, LTI’s second language reading test measures their ability to read and understand a variety of informational texts as well as pieces of narrative fiction.

Finally, LTI measures the subject’s ability to write effectively in the second language; this encompasses a wide selection of skills related to grammatical rules as well as rhetorical skill in the additional language.

As a business owner, don’t you want to know that your employees have undergone the best and most rigorous language testing and assessment in the industry? Only Language Testing International can provide you with this kind of assurance.

Types of Assessment and Evaluation

Assessment and evaluation studies may take place at the subject, department, or Institutional level, and range in size and scope from a pilot study to a complex project that addresses a number of different topics, involves hundreds of students, and includes a variety of methodologies.  Typically, assessment efforts are divided into two types, formative or summative. Below, each is described briefly along with a third less frequently seen type called process assessment. Included, as well, is a grid that classifies different assessment methodologies.

Formative Assessment
Formative assessment implies that the results will be used in the formation and revision process of an educational effort.  Formative assessments are used in the improvement of educational programs. This type of assessment is the most common form of assessment in higher education, and it constitutes a large proportion of TLL’s assessment work. Since educators are continuously looking for ways to strengthen their educational efforts, this type of constructive feedback is valuable.
Summative Assessment

Summative assessment is used for the purpose of documenting outcomes and judging value.  It is used for providing feedback to instructors about the quality of a subject or program, reporting to stakeholders and granting agencies, producing reports for accreditation, and marketing the attributes of a subject or program. Most studies of this type are rarely exclusively summative in practice, and they usually contain some aspects of formative assessment.
Process Assessment

Process assessment begins with the identification of project milestones to be reached, activities to be undertaken, products to be delivered, and/or projected costs likely to be incurred in the course of attaining a project’s final goals. The process assessment determines whether the project has been on schedule, deliverables produced, and cost estimates met. The degree of difference from the expected process is used to evaluate success.

Methods of Measuring Learning Outcomes Grid
How colleges and universities can measure and report on the knowledge and abilities their students have acquired during their college years is an issue of growing interest. The methods of measuring outcomes gird provides a way to categorize the range of methodologies that can be used to assess the value added by a college education.

references  :

http://www.languagetesting.com/language-testing-and-assessment

http://tll.mit.edu/help/types-assessment-and-evaluation