Hi Andrea,

There's a discussion in the testing forum on this topic too. The debate there concerns whether testing should be integrated, e.g. listening, reading, note-taking and then writing, or whether the skills should be tested separately. The point was made that it is almost impossible to test skills discretely, as a reading test almost always involves some writing.

I think in EAP we are trying to get students to achieve a target performance, like driving, so we have to set tasks that simulate that performance as closely as possible. If we do not have to use IELTS/TOEFL etc, then we can set project work that is related to the student's field of study. This has the benefit that 'working towards the assessment' also improves vocabulary and content knowledge.

Olwyn

Hi Olwyn. I agree with everything you say, but wouldn´t all testing be testing to prepare people for some kind of  target performance?

What about portfolio assessment? have any of you used this? Has it worked?

Best

Andrea