ABSTRACT
This chapter will close our systematic approach to curricular and syllabus planning and design. Assessment, in its many forms and with its different functions, is an essential part of any teaching and learning process. Most emphasis has been put traditionally on its summative function, but we will stress here the formative function. The chapter begins with a critique of traditional assessment methods in translator training, and moves on to discuss principles of student-centred assessment, and a variety of innovative methods, including peer and self assessment or learning portfolios, which may be used alone or in combination with each other to improve assessment practice. Norm and criterionreferenced grading practices are then compared, and some suggestions are given as to how to formulate assessment criteria. Finally the chapter closes with issues relating to assessment of trainer performance and programme evaluation. This really does bring us full circle: feedback from these last provides input for course improvement and quality enhancement. By the end of the chapter, readers will have received a broad overview of the concepts of assessment, well beyond standard end-ofsemester grading, and should be able to propose and adopt appropriate assessment mechanisms for their own modules in their own contexts.
