The Common European Framework in its political and educational context What is the Common European Framework?

9.3.7
Performance assessment/knowledge assessment
Performance assessment requires the learner to provide a sample of language in speech or
writing in a direct test.
Knowledge assessment requires the learner to answer questions which can be of a range
of different item types in order to provide evidence of the extent of their linguistic knowl-
edge and control.
Unfortunately one can never test competences directly. All one ever has to go on is a
range of performances, from which one seeks to generalise about proficiency. Proficiency
can be seen as competence put to use. In this sense, therefore, all tests assess only perfor-
mance, though one may seek to draw inferences as to the underlying competences from
this evidence.
However, an interview requires more of a ‘performance’ than filling gaps in sentences,
and gap-filling in turn requires more ‘performance’ than multiple choice. In this sense
the word ‘performance’ is being used to mean the production of language. But the word
‘performance’ is used in a more restricted sense in the expression ‘performance tests’.
Here the word is taken to mean a relevant performance in a (relatively) authentic and
often work or study-related situation. In a slightly looser use of this term ‘performance
assessment’, oral assessment procedures could be said to be performance tests in that
they generalise about proficiency from performances in a range of discourse styles con-
sidered to be relevant to the learning context and needs of the learners. Some tests
balance the performance assessment with an assessment of knowledge of the language
as a system; others do not. 
This distinction is very similar to the one between direct and indirect tests. The
Framework can be exploited in a similar way. The Council of Europe specifications for dif-
ferent levels (Waystage, Threshold Level, Vantage Level) offer in addition appropriate
detail on target language knowledge in the languages for which they are available.
Assessment
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9.3.8
Subjective assessment/objective assessment
Subjective assessment is a judgement by an assessor. What is normally meant by this is the
judgement of the quality of a performance.
Objective assessment is assessment in which subjectivity is removed. What is normally
meant by this is an indirect test in which the items have only one right answer, e.g. multi-
ple choice.
However the issue of subjectivity/objectivity is considerably more complex.
An indirect test is often described as an ‘objective test’ when the marker consults a
definitive key to decide whether to accept or reject an answer and then counts correct
responses to give the result. Some test types take this process a stage further by only
having one possible answer to each question (e.g. multiple choice, and c-tests, which were
developed from cloze for this reason), and machine marking is often adopted to elimi-
nate marker error. In fact the objectivity of tests described as ‘objective’ in this way is
somewhat over-stated since someone decided to restrict the assessment to techniques
offering more control over the test situation (itself a subjective decision others may dis-
agree with). Someone then wrote the test specification, and someone else may have
written the item as an attempt to operationalise a particular point in the specification.
Finally, someone selected the item from all the other possible items for this test. Since
all those decisions involve an element of subjectivity, such tests are perhaps better
described as objectively scored tests. 
In direct performance assessment grades are generally awarded on the basis of a judge-
ment. That means that the decision as to how well the learner performs is made subjec-
tively, taking relevant factors into account and referring to any guidelines or criteria and
experience. The advantage of a subjective approach is that language and communication
are very complex, do not lend themselves to atomisation and are greater than the sum
of their parts. It is very often difficult to establish what exactly a test item is testing.
Therefore to target test items on specific aspects of competence or performance is a lot
less straightforward than it sounds. 
Yet, in order to be fair, all assessment should be as objective as possible. The effects of
the personal value judgements involved in subjective decisions about the selection of
content and the quality of performance should be reduced as far as possible, particularly
where summative assessment is concerned. This is because test results are very often
used by third parties to make decisions about the future of the persons who have been
assessed. 
Subjectivity in assessment can be reduced, and validity and reliability thus increased
by taking steps like the following:
•
developing a