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Which of the following test types is most suited for measuring interlanguage development over time?

ASummative tests

BStandardised achievement tests

CPortfolio-based assessments

DCloze tests

Answer:

C. Portfolio-based assessments

Read Explanation:

  • The correct answer is (C) Portfolio-based assessments.

  • Portfolio-based assessments are collections of a student's work over time. They are ideal for measuring interlanguage development because they capture a learner's progress across different skills and at various stages. By analyzing a portfolio, an instructor can see how a student's language skills are evolving, identify patterns of errors, and observe which grammatical structures or vocabulary they have successfully acquired. Interlanguage, by its very nature, is a dynamic system, and a portfolio provides a longitudinal record of its development.

Why the Other Options Are Less Suited :

  • (A) Summative tests are typically given at the end of a unit or course to measure overall achievement. They provide a snapshot of a student's knowledge at one specific point, not the process of development over time.

  • (B) Standardised achievement tests are designed to measure a learner's proficiency against a norm. While they can show progress, they are not tailored to capture the specific, idiosyncratic, and developmental errors that characterize interlanguage. They often focus on what a student can do, rather than the developmental path of their linguistic system.

  • (D) Cloze tests are used to measure reading comprehension and overall language proficiency by asking students to fill in missing words in a text. While they can be a component of a test, they do not provide a rich enough body of evidence to track the complex, systematic development of a learner's interlanguage over a long period.


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