you now have a sense of where tests belong in the larger domain of assessment. You have sorted through differences between formal and informal tests,formative and summative tests,and norm - and criterion-referenced tests. You have traced some of the historical lines of thought in the field of language assessment. You have a sense of major current trends in language assessment,especially the present focus on communicative and process-oriented testing that seeks to transform tests from anguishing ordeals into challenging and intrinsically motivating learning experiences. By now,certain foundational principles have entered your vocabulary: practicality, reliability, validity, authenticity, and washback. And you should now possess a few tools with which you can evaluate the effectiveness of a classroom test.