Purposes of assessment

Abstract

Commissioned as the lead paper in the Volume, this chapter shows how the terms assessment, testing, examining and evaluation have become increasingly intertwined, and multiple new terms have emerged. The chapter takes a somewhat historical view as it lays out a picture of the ways that the field of language ‘assessment’ has expanded its knowledge and skills but also its socio-political effects. Taking the notion of ‘purposes’ as a broad organizing principle, the chapter is intended to introduce new readers in this field to the wide range of issues current in the field, and prepare them for the more specific chapters that follow.