Using assessment materials to refine a continuum of skill growth

Margaret Forster, ACER

Abstract

This paper looks at the ways in which assessment materials developed for the speaking and listening 'strand' of the Australian English ' profile' have helped refine the continuum of skill growth. A brief introduction describes the concepts of a 'profile' and a 'strand'. The relationship between the described speaking and listening continuum and actual student performance is then explored. The paper shows how the conceptualisation of assessment contexts, the test construction process and the analysis of actual student performance add detail to descriptions of skill growth.