They also use language to negotiate with parents and teachers for pocket money and extra time for assignments respectively, and so on. All these contexts can be used to provide students with a familiar and supportive environment of learning. The most important element that emerges from this chapter is the fact that students can no longer be seen as homogeneous automatons, who learn language in precisely the same way. Human beings all differ in terms of ability and learning style. Recognizing this enables teachers to better address their students' learning needs and also to derive better ways of assessment that truly measures the learning process. An integrated assessment, in other words, will provide a better way of assessing the learning process rather than only fragments of language learning.

Chapter 5 focuses on the importance of observation in assessing the process of speaking and listening skills. Closely connected to preliminary and ongoing assessment, it is...

Teachers can talk with students both individually and in the group process. By means of observation, extra information can be derived not only about their abilities, but also about the way in which they prefer to learn; what they regard as important, supportive, and threatening in the learning context.
Using the information derived in this way, the teacher can create a positive and supportive environment for learning. According to the author, this means a variety of things; the teacher and classmates are for example positively oriented in such a way that learners can behave naturally and express themselves freely; and positive achievement rather than penalty or failure should be the focus. Such an environment creates an effective platform not only for cultivating current learning skills, but also for cultivating a well-rounded and productive future adult.