ELT 12 PDF - Assessment – What, When, and How?

Session 12: Assessment – What, When, and How? 1. Definition Language assessment involves obtaining evidence to inform inferences about a person’s language-related knowledge, skills, or abilities. The evidence is gathered from the performance tasks that involve the use of language while the inferen...

Session 12: Assessment – What, When, and How? 1. Definition Language assessment involves obtaining evidence to inform inferences about a person’s language-related knowledge, skills, or abilities. The evidence is gathered from the performance tasks that involve the use of language while the inferences are the interpretations of that very performance. For the EFL classroom, such an interpretation would involve additional aspects such as intercultural competence, language learning awareness, task achievement and literary competence. 2. Implications for the EFL Classroom − marks have to be o objective o valid: does a test measure what it is supposed to measure? o reliable: is a test consistent in its measurement, and dependable? 3. Which Criteria Could We Use? − Form o adequate for the selected audience o fits the genre o length o understandable language o degree of correct orthography and grammar o variation in vocabulary o complex sentence structure − Content o response to the task o coherence o structure o originality and imagination o communicative success − background information o task instruction o learner group o previous performance of the student o preparation in the previous lesson o teacher’s expectations  − apart from critical reference standards there are individual and social reference standards: comparing the student to themselves or to the group of learners 4. Oral Error Correction − direct correction: the teacher interrupts the student directly after the mistake and corrects it − correction by classmates: the teacher asks other students what was wrong and how to say it correctly − self-correction: the teacher points out that there was a mistake so that the student can correct it themselves − no correction: the teacher doesn’t correct the error in order to avoid the student’s speech − echoing: the teacher repeats or reformulates what the student said and thus corrects the mistake indirectly − correction via gestures or facial expressions: the teacher uses body language to make the student aware of a mistake 5. Other Forms of Assessment 5.1. Self- and Peer-Assessment − self-assessment: learners reflect on their own performance and act as assessors of it, usually using a set of criteria or checklists o can raise learners’ awareness of (and possibly motivation for) their learning process o might make them more autonomous − peer-assessment: learners evaluate and assess each other’s performances, ideally based on criteria and/or checklists o enhances learner autonomy to improve the quality of learner’s work o enhances learner collaboration to improve the quality of learner’s work o possibly resulting in increased motivation 5.2. Portfolio − a portfolio is a purposeful collection of students’ work that demonstrates their efforts, progress, and achievements in given areas − it can include different materials such as written homework, audio files, creative writing, essays, presentation outlines, etc. − allows for a broader basis of an evaluation because it documents a learning process over a given time (=formative assessment) and not just in one exam (=summative assessment) − includes a meta-level of reflecting the individual learning process (combines self-assessment and external evaluation) − the best-known example is the European Language Portfolio which is based on the CEFR and includes work samples, certificates and continuous self-assessment in terms of the levels of the CEFR 5.3. Summative and Formative Assessment Summative Assessment − typically occurs at the end of a course or a unit of instruction − aims at summarising what a learner has learned, taking stock of their achievements  − examples: classroom test after a textbook unit, Abitur Formative Assessment − most of our classroom-based assessment is formative in nature with the aim of ‘forming learners’ competences in the process of assessment − feeds back into teaching and learning, giving the teacher and the learner insights into strengths and weaknesses of the learner performance 6. Reflection Assessment and learning should be seen as inseparable in the foreign language classroom. The assessment ideally feeds back into the teaching. Assessment of Learning − focus on the outcome and products of learning only − testing Assessment for Learning − takes a process-oriented perspective − diagnostic assessment, which aims at identifying strengths and weaknesses of the learner to help them move on from their current level of learning Language Assessment Literacy − the ability to critically evaluate language tests − compile, design and monitor language assessment procedures in foreign language contexts − grade and score them on the basis of theoretical knowledge