For many teachers, the focus on performance--both instruction and assessment--is a new thought. Generations of language learners have completed course requirements that measured their ability to regurgitate information about aspects of the language at the expense of being able to use the languge. While traditional testing is still widely used and serves its prescribed purpose, classroom assessment should align with what students have learned and how they have learned. Because the goal of curriculum is for language use, it is important to require students to apply the newly gained communicative competence to similar but different contexts. This ability to transfer is similar to what happens in real life.

Among the assessment tools that teacher will use for classroom assessment include:

* Performance-based assessment tasks
* Self assessments
* Peer assessments
* Teacher observations
* Portfolios
* Quizzes and tests

Multiple measurements taken across time provide a more comprehensive picture of students' ability to use Chinese for meaningful purpose than would an assessment scheme that focuses on students' ability as measured by tests and quizzes alone. For more information about the difference between traditional testing and performance assessment, the New Jersey World Languages Curriculum Framework is an excellent resource, as is the Virginia Standard of Learning .