Table of contents

From the Editor’s desk

Assessment plays a vital role in language education. At its most effective, it’s not just a means of measuring attainment but also a tool for shaping learning itself. In identifying learner needs, guiding objective setting and providing insights into the effectiveness of our classroom methods, assessment can support us in teaching in a more responsive and purposeful way. When feedback is timely and constructive, it can also help learners themselves take greater ownership of their progress, encouraging engagement, reflection and accountability. With the ongoing evolution of language teaching, assessment remains a vibrant area of both practice and research, one that continues to generate fresh perspectives, challenges and opportunities.

Across the field, a broad range of themes continues to spark interest and development. Testing techniques and item writing, for example, invite us to reflect critically on how we assess different language skills, whether through multiple-choice formats, short answers or speaking tests. The question of how best to prepare learners for assessment is equally central, especially with teachers striving to integrate teaching and testing, as well as the growing use of frameworks such as the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) to define and benchmark proficiency levels. Teachers and researchers also continue to explore the respective merits of formative and summative approaches to assessment and how each can be implemented to best support learning. Lastly, authentic assessment – with formats anchored in real-world tasks, projects and portfolios – is gaining prominence, with increasing attention paid to how we assess communication in context.

Underpinning all of this is of course the need for clear and transparent assessment criteria, ideally developed in collaboration with learners and matched to meaningful success indicators. The challenges of ensuring validity and reliability remain ever relevant, with important work being done on how to design and evaluate assessment tools that are both fair and fit for purpose. Finally, there is growing recognition of the role that effective feedback and error correction can play in helping learners consolidate their knowledge and move forward with confidence.

Our feature interview with Karin Vogt discusses many of these topics, looking into current directions, opportunities and challenges in the world of assessment in ELT. We also showcase Jonathan Lee and Isla Ward’s innovative new approach to assessing English language and literature at Matura level in the Swiss public school system, complete with insights into its recent formal evaluation, as introduced by Michael Ruloff and Anna Ryf. Angeliki Salamoura proposes a way to meaningfully integrate learning and assessment while Yasmine Slimani and Cristiana Urbani examine techniques for giving feedback. Pak Man Au takes us to Japan to explore peer assessment on a university writing course and Jason Chan shares research perspectives on the importance of validity in testing, focusing on the ethical dimensions involved. Laura Loder Buechel offers a thought-provoking take on formative versus summative assessment, suggesting that summative assessment be handled by specialists, freeing teachers up to concentrate on feedback and learner growth. Meanwhile, Lucy Tilney gives us a glimpse into the world of homestays for learners of English and Julian Patrick Huwyler offers us practical strategies for teaching technical English.

As always, we bring you highlights from our most recent event, the Annual Conference in early February. We start off with Annie Altamirano’s report of her plenary on effective formative feedback before also sharing write-ups of workshops on topics ranging from translanguaging to language task design and assessment, and from cultural agility to job applications. Our contributors explore a range of contexts, including the business world and that of public (or state) school teaching. Finally, in our resources section, you’ll find a comprehensive and compelling account of a book on interoception – our awareness of the body’s internal environment – and its potential relevance in ELT.

Of course, our dedicated ETAS volunteers have been hard at work over the past six months, not only producing this issue of the Journal but also contributing in countless other ways. Read about their work, including an update from Carol Waites on her exciting t2t project in Kenya. We also warmly invite you to consider becoming involved in ETAS yourself.

We hope you enjoy this summer’s Journal!