RESEARCH INTO THE ASSESSMENT OF SCHOOL-AGE LANGUAGE LEARNERS
This chapter describes recent research into the assessment of school-age language learners in both second language and foreign language situations. The review is organized under five areas of research endeavor: the standards movement and its impact on second language learners in schools; large-scale content-based assessment and ways to counteract its negative impact on second language learners; investigations of academic language proficiency; explorations of classroom assessment; and young learner assessment. These areas of research are interrelated but sufficiently distinct to be addressed under separate headings. References to current research from various countries around the world are included, and suggested directions for further research are given.