Determine What the Student Understands-Assessment in An Un-scaffolded Environment

The current landscape of computer-assisted language learning (CALL) necessitates effective assessment tools that are capable of evaluating students' comprehension and skills in an un-scaffolded environment. Traditional assessment systems often provide predefined scaffolding, potentially influencing assessment outcomes. In response to this, this document presents a novel grading tool designed to autonomously evaluate free-form responses without furnishing pre-determined structures or suggestions. This innovative tool aims to empower students by fostering independent thinking while mitigating the challenges of individual variability that arise within the context of un-scaffolded assessments. The tool discussed in this document is centered around evaluating student knowledge and proficiency without imposing a rigid framework that could impact the assessment process. It comprises a framework-free testing environment module alongside a module for analyzing correct student responses. A scoring module is incorporated to discern between responsive answers and incorrect responses, further categorizing errors based on their nature. This research advances the conversation surrounding un-scaffolded assessment in CALL, offering a solution that promotes self-reliance and effective evaluation while maintaining accuracy in capturing student comprehension and proficiency