Alternative versus Traditional Assessment

Assessment as an integral part of the teaching and learning process, determines whether the goals of education are being met or not. The present article provides an introduction to the 'movement of alternative assessment' (Alderson & Banerjee, 2001) as a worthwhile issue within the field of assessment and language testing. It then proceeds to describe authenticity, compares traditional and alternative assessment, and tries to spot the areas which need more consideration on the part of the teachers and practitioners for a fair approach. If truly applied, authentic assessment can increase achievement by measuring the full range of student abilities.