Assessment in the EAP Classroom

Monitoring progress, providing feedback, and assessing student work are core skills for any teacher, and English for Academic Purposes (EAP) teachers are no exception. This chapter focuses on assessment within EAP by looking at measuring the academic language construct and its components (e.g., generic and subject-specific academic language literacies and skills). In doing so, the chapter starts with a brief background of language assessment from the broader English language teaching context and highlights some key concepts in language testing. These include elements supporting test usefulness and the interpretation of test score meaning, such as reliability, impact, validity, and practicality. The importance of understanding the assessment context to determine test purpose as a fundamental aspect of impact by design is also outlined.