Assessment of student language skills in an e-learning environment

Abstract

This article presents the role of various assessment structures that can be used in a VLE. e-Learning language courses offer tutors a wide range of traditional and computer-generated formative and summative assessment procedures and tools. They help to evaluate each student’s progress, monitor their activities and provide varied support, which comes from the tutor, the course structure and materials as well as other participants. The format and ownership of procedures are also very important as they introduce variety, comprehensiveness and personalisation into assessment. Besides computer-generated feedback and tutor marking, also peer assessment and self-assessment play a significant role because they help students build confidence and develop analytical, critical-thinking and reflection skills, which result in them becoming self-directed learners in the future. The introduction of e-assessment into course design can have a number of positive effects, but it may also cause a number of serious concerns. If appropriately applied, technology used for delivering formative feedback and evaluating student progress in a summative way can enhance the quality of the learning process. However, if an e-learning course is overloaded with computer-generated tests, it will not engage students, and the dropout rate will be high.