Alignment of assessment strategies with theories on assessment in the discipline of English language education at a comprehensive rural-based university in South Africa

Abstract

Assessments are the most important tools positioned to monitor progress of students as they journey to meet the learning outcomes designed for a course or module. There is a myriad of assessment categories but the two main broad assessment categories are as follows: formative and summative assessments. The main focus of the former category of assessments are more developmental in nature, with the intention of providing feedback; promote a mastery of skills, knowledge and attitudes. The latter assessment category, to a large extent, denotes to what extent learning for the entire course or module has been successful. It indicates to teachers, institutions and society at large that learning has occurred. In this article the assessment strategy in the discipline of English Language Education will be discussed with a focus on how the assessment strategy in the aforementioned discipline aligns with theories on assessment, the content and context of the discipline. Contemporary literature on assessments will be interrogated in relation to the current assessment strategy adopted in this discipline over the past 3 years.

Keywords: Assessments, learning outcomes, theories on assessment and assessment strategies.