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Accurate
assessment of the language ability of student to inform decisions about
placement, diagnosis, progress, and achievement is an essential component
of language instructional programs. For the past two years, the UCLA Language
Assessment Laboratory (LASSLAB) has been developing the Web-based Language
Assessment System (WebLAS), an integrated approach to language assessment
that draws upon state-of-the-art concepts, theories, and practices in
applied linguistics, multimedia, and interactive computer software. Content
specifications for WebLAS are based on descriptions and analyses of the
scope and sequence of the content of second and foreign language courses
at UCLA. WebLAS test tasks will share many of the characteristics of tasks
used in classroom instruction and in real-life language use situations.
It is expected that over 2,000 students in English as a Second Language
(ESL), Japanese, and Korean will be served by WebLAS each year. Furthermore,
the system is being designed to be flexible enough to accommodate other
languages.