Aspect noun
Aspect is a way of looking at verb forms without looking specifically at the time of the action or event. When we talk about the
time of an action or event, we talk about tense. Aspect is about the way speakers view events, e.g. whether the event is long or
short, whether it is complete or not, whether it is repeated or not, whether it is connected to the time of speaking or not. There
are two aspects in English, the continuous/progressive aspect and the perfect aspect. The continuous/progressive aspect may
describe an action that is in progress at a particular time. See tense.
Assessment noun, assess verb
To discover, judge, or form an opinion on learners’ ability, achievement, proficiency or progress either formally or informally.
Continuous assessment
A type of assessment which does not involve a final examination. Some or all of the work that learners do during a course
is marked by the teacher on a regular basis and these marks go into the calculation of the final grade given to learners.
Continuous assessment may include regularly assessing learners’ written work; assessing their listening, reading and
speaking skills; talking to learners; observing them in class; looking at self-assessments and thinking about learners’
classroom performance.
Diagnostic assessment
A type of assessment aimed at finding out – diagnosing – what language and skills weaknesses or strengths learners have.
Teachers use this information to inform their future lesson planning. See teacher roles.
Formal assessment
When a teacher assesses learners and then gives them a formal report or grade, to say how successful or unsuccessful
they have been See informal assessment.
Formative assessment
When a teacher uses formal and informal assessment and information on learners’ progress during a course to give
learners feedback on their learning or to change their teaching. See summative assessment.
Informal assessment
When a teacher decides whether a learner is doing well or not, or whether a course is successful or not, by evaluating
learners by thinking about their strengths and weaknesses and thinking about their progress rather than setting a test or
writing an official report. See formal assessment.
Objective assessment
When the opinion or judgement of the person marking a test is not needed to assess learners. The questions in the
test/assessment have one correct answer. Objective assessment takes place when marking tasks such as multiple-choice
questions or true/false questions because the marker does not need to decide if the answer is right or wrong as there are
clear correct or incorrect answers. See subjective assessment.
Peer assessment
When learners give their opinions on each other’s language or work. See self-assessment.
Performance assessment
This involves teachers thinking about learners’ classroom performance to assess how well learners communicate during
specific tasks by checking learners’ performance against criteria. Teachers can see if learners have achieved the purpose of
the task by using the criteria.
Portfolio assessment
This is used for formative assessment and also continuous assessment. It consists of a collection of learners’ work done
over a course or a year which shows development of their language and skills.