Section 21.8 Assessing Grammar
Assessment might seem like a straightforward question at the end of instruction—you taught the structure, now you test whether learners know it. But grammar assessment is more complicated than that, because knowing a grammar rule and being able to use it correctly in real communication are not the same thing. A learner might score perfectly on a multiple-choice test about the present perfect and still say I have seen her yesterday in conversation. Conversely, a learner might use the present perfect correctly in speech without being able to state the rule at all. Effective assessment tries to capture what learners can actually do with grammar, not just what they know about it in the abstract.
Assessment Types.
Discrete-point tests: Testing individual structures
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Multiple choice
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Fill-in-the-blank
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Error correction
Integrative assessment: Testing grammar in context
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Essay writing
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Speaking tasks
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Editing tasks
What to Assess.
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Knowledge (can learners state rules?)
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Recognition (can learners identify correct forms?)
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Production (can learners produce correct forms?)
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Use (can learners use forms appropriately in communication?)
