The Concise Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics

TTask‐Based Language Assessment

YUNDEOK CHOI

Task‐based language assessment (TBLA) is defined as “the process of evaluating, in relation to a set of explicitly stated criteria, the quality of the communicative performances elicited from learners as part of goal‐directed, meaning‐focused language use requiring the integration of skills and knowledge” (Brindley, 1994, p. 74). TBLA is considered a form of performance assessment, which focuses on evaluating examinees' actual performance of practical skills rather than their abstract knowledge of language systems and structures (Wigglesworth & Frost, 2017).

The use of TBLA holds the potential for delivering at least four advantages, according to Norris (2016). The approach

• offers learners and teachers frameworks whereby they produce and use formative feedback;
• informs stakeholders, including teachers and learners, of values espoused in their educational context, raising their awareness of goals, reasons, and processes associated with learning;
• brings about positive washback to curriculum and educational systems; and
• enables measurement of learning outcomes, so that summative decisions can be made.

The design of task‐based assessments and tests usually begins with the identification of the real‐world language use tasks that learners will need to carry out to achieve their communicative purposes (e.g., writing an essay in an English class or ordering a meal in a restaurant). Next, the key performance features that will be elicited ...