Towards sustainable assessment formats in language teaching: testing integrated skills with portfolio-based tasks

In this paper, we share our experience of using portfolio-based tasks to assess integrated skills in German and Spanish language modules at level C1. The modules, delivered during the academic year 2022-23, are part of the institution-wide language provision at Durham University, which means that students come from various disciplines different from Modern Languages. The assessment system we have used is based on the principles of flexibility and choice. Throughout the year, students build up a body of work where they record and reflect on the experiences of a person living in a country where the target language is spoken. The portfolio contains both formative and summative submissions, so that students can benefit from the feedback received for formative tasks to fine-tune their summative work. In this regard, the system involves a combination of assessment for learning and assessment as learning. Every submission integrates different language skills, as well as transferable skills such as decision-making, autonomy, creativity, critical thinking and intercultural knowledge. Besides adding authenticity to the assessment tasks, the development of these skills is aligned with the principles of education for sustainable development (AdvanceHE, 2021). At the end of the paper, we explain what we have learned from the use of this assessment system, as well as the aspects that we would like to enhance and those that we would need to improve in future editions.