Learning-Oriented Language Assessment: Putting Theory into Practice

This collection brings together research on learning-oriented language assessment from scholars working across geographic and educational contexts, highlighting the opportunities of assessment practices which seek to better align assessment and learning tasks and support effective learning.

The volume begins by introducing learning-oriented assessment (LOA) and the context around its growing popularity, especially in accountability-oriented settings which favor summative large-scale tests. The first part of the book charts the development of LOA’s theoretical and conceptual underpinnings, outlining the ways in which they have been informed by theories of learning and key elements. The second part demonstrates LOA in practice, drawing on examples from different countries and instructional settings to explore such topics as the role of technology in LOA and developing feedback materials based around LOA principles and developed for core literacy skills.

Offering a holistic view of learning-oriented assessment and the real-world affordances and challenges of its implementation, this book is key reading for graduate students, researchers, and practitioners in language testing and assessment, TESOL, and language education.

Atta Gebril is an associate professor and MATESOL program director in the Department of Applied Linguistics, American University in Cairo (AUC). He is also the chair of the Institutional Review Board at AUC. He obtained his PhD from the University of Iowa in foreign language and ESL education. He teaches courses in second-language assessment and research methods in applied linguistics. His research interests include writing assessment, reading–writing connections, and learning-oriented assessment. He currently serves on the editorial boards of Assessing Writing and the TESOL Journal and as an associate editor for Language Assessment Quarterly.