| Summary: | Second language learning is becoming prevalent in many societies as cross-cultural interaction is increasing, and students must have sufficient language skills to participate in an unfamiliar educational setting. Many pedagogical professionals now recognize the shortcomings of traditional testing methods in regards to children of all age groups, and the need for alternative testing methods. In regards to this thesis, authentic assessment is used to describe different forms of testing that consider student knowledge, success, incentive, and perception of authentic classroom activities. Therefore, this paper explores the efficacy of authentic assessment in the multilingual inclusive classroom. Specifically, this report demonstrates the benefits of authentic testing by discussing definitions of authenticity, validity, task-based assessment and self-assessment, student perception, as well as the implications of incorporating authentic methods. Although scholars define the task types differently in relation to one another, this report aims to give a general definition of authentic assessment and identify practical examples of authentic testing methods that can be used in the language classroom. Furthermore, by discussing the role of the instructor and the importance of instructor training and implementation, this report seeks to define a more holistic approach to language teaching and assessment. In a practical sense, implementation of authentic methods is often problematic. Therefore, this model needs to be given further consideration, especially into the way in which authentic assessment can be implemented into the English as a second language classroom in Iceland and abroad. Not only does this thesis provide evidence to the effectiveness of authentic methods, but it also describes specific methods that are applicable in the second language classroom. An analysis of different authentic assessment methods indicates that alternative testing is useful in the inclusive second language learning classroom.
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