Continuous Assessment: A Panacea for Improved Academic Performance in English Language

Abstract

Examinations are sometimes said not to be true test of one’s knowledge due largely to reasons such as the strictness of the examination venue, teacher’s temperament in marking, student s’ nervousness at the onset of examinations, examination malpractice emerging from numerous angles etc. these problems in addition to the fact that a single examination administered at the end of the semester, term or session cannot adequately cover all that have been done in the course of classroom teaching calls for the use of continuous assessment. This paper therefore looks at the importance of continuous assessment in the teaching of English as a second language. It compares continuous assessment to the traditional assessment along the dimensions of purpose setting, focus, feedback, test task, class management and frame of reference. In addition, it sought responses on the topic with a twenty-item questionnaire administered on one hundred randomly selected students of Federal University of Technology, Minna. One of the findings of these responses was that about 65% were favourably disposed to the use of continuous assessment. The paper also offers worthwhile recommendations for improvement in the use of continuous assessment in Nigerian educational system.