Assessment and Evaluation in ELT

Unleashing the potential of continuous improvement in teaching/learning in English Language Teaching—ELT requires an appreciation of the difference in spirit between assessment and evaluation. Assessment is frequently confused and confounded with evaluation. The purpose of an evaluation is to judge the quality of a performance or work product against a standard. The fundamental nature of assessment is that a mentor values helping a mentee and is willing to expend the effort to provide quality feedback that will enhance the mentee’s future performance. While both processes involve collecting data about a performance or work product, what is done with these data in each process is substantially different and invokes a very different mindset. This paper first looks at what assessment is and the various aspects involving. Then attention will be turn to evaluation and its components. Furthermore, it will look at testing as a tool used by both assessment and evaluation, lastly some differences between assessment and evaluation will be presented.