Integrating Assessment into Early Language Learning and Teaching

The volume unites research and practice on integrating language learning, teaching and assessment at preschool and early school age. It includes chapters written by experts in the field who have studied some of the very youngest (pre-primary) children through to those up to the age of 12, in a variety of private and state contexts across Europe. The collection makes a much-needed contribution to the subject of appropriate assessment for children with the focus of many chapters being classroom-based assessment, particularly formative assessment, or the case for developing assessment skills in relation to even the youngest children. As a whole, the book provides useful case study insights for policymakers, teacher educators, researchers and postgraduate students with interest in or responsibility for how children are assessed in their language learning. It also provides practical ideas for practitioners who wish to implement greater integration of assessment and learning in their own contexts.

Višnja Pavičić Takač is Professor at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Osijek, Croatia. Her professional and research interests include individual differences in FL learning, language learning strategies, communicative competence, lexical development, cross-linguistic studies, metadiscourse in FL writing, and pre-service teacher education. For many years, she was a reviewer of state school-leaving exam in Croatia. She has been a member of a number of international and national scientific projects and has presented more than 40 papers at national and international conferences. She has more than 50 published papers and book chapters and has authored and co-authored three books and four edited volumes.

Shelagh Rixon was an Associate Professor in the Department of Applied Linguistics at the University of Warwick, UK until her retirement in 2010. Currently, she is an Associate Tutor for the MA in Applied Linguistics and TESOL at the University of Leicester, UK. Her research interests include the teaching of early English literacy to children learning English as a Foreign Language and the roles of assessment in primary school level English Language Teaching.