ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the ways in which assessment is commonly used in English for Academic Purposes (EAP) contexts, and the mechanisms behind the best known diagnostic measures. It describes some common forms of assessment, the factors which lead to feedback having maximum impact, and how to structure feedback and assessment to address a particularly vexing issue, plagiarism. In EAP as in other areas of education, assessment is performed for one of three broad purposes. Diagnostic assessment is carried out in order to benchmark the learner's level of proficiency. Summative and formative assessments are more distinct in theory than they are in much current language pedagogy. Feedback, then, is a potentially important part of the learning process. Plagiarism is most easily identified by resemblances between a text and its sources, and when it is identified, it is generally regarded as a form of cheating.
