Journal of English Language Teaching

Alternative Assessment in the ESL Classroom: Why and How?

Amlanjyoti Sengupta

Department of English, Assam University, Diphu Campus, Assam

Keywords: Alternative assessment in the language classroom, Assessment for learning

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Abstract

The National Curriculum Framework (NCF, 2005) makes a clear distinction between knowledge that is fluid and that which is reproduced. The former can never be transferred and must be reconstructed by the learner. For this to happen, learning can no longer be the memorization and reproduction of facts.  Unfortunately, in most of the cases in India, academic courses use closed book, memory-based examinations as part of summative assessment, which has focused on the assessment of learning.  But there is the necessity to shift the focus from ‘assessment of learning’ to ‘assessment for learning’. In order to make assessment ‘a tool for learning’, the existing assessment system must be rejuvenated by incorporating alternative assessment techniques. With this aim, the present paper will discuss the possibilities of alternative assessment in the context of the ESL classroom. The aim of the paper is also to justify the relevance of alternative assessment in the language classroom in order to ensure that knowledge is not merely reproduced but applied, synthesized and evaluated

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