Unit 2
Unit II Strategies of Assessment in English
Education
Self reflection and Peer evaluation
Self and peer assessment is about revision and
improvement. It enables students to independently assess their own and other
students’ progress with confidence rather than always relying on teacher judgment.
When students self and peer assess, they are actively involved in the learning
process and their independence and motivation is improved.
Students who can look at their work, and judge the
degree by which it reflects explicitly stated goals or criteria, can assess the
quality of their work and revise it accordingly.
Group
work can be more successful when students are involved in developing the
assessment process. This may include establishing their own assessment criteria
through consultation with teaching staff. Alternatively you can provide
students with sample self and/or peer assessment criteria.
The main aims of self
and peer assessment are to:
o
increase student responsibility and
autonomy
o
strive for a more advanced and deeper
understanding of the subject matter, skills and processes
o
lift the role and status of the student
from passive learner to active leaner and assessor
o
(this also encourages a deeper approach
to learning)
o
involve students in critical reflection
o
develop in students a better
understanding of their own subjectivity and judgement.
o
Preparing students for self or peer
assessment
o
Students may have little exposure to
different forms of assessment and so may lack the necessary skills and
judgements to effectively manage self and peer assessments. There may also be a
perception amongst students that the academic is ‘shirking’ their
responsibilities by having students undertaking peer assessments. In this
situation students may be reminded of the Graduate Student Attributes. This
also highlights the need to fully prepare and equip students for their own
assessment and for the assessment of others.
o
It is helpful to introduce students to
the concepts and elements of assessment against specified criteria in the first
weeks of class when you explain the unit of study outline. This requires taking
time at the outset of the group activity or unit of study to discuss what is
required, and to provide guidance on how to judge their own and others’
contributions. Students will need to be assisted to develop criteria that match
the learning outcomes with regards to the output and process of the group work.
If assessment criteria for each element are set up and clearly communicated,
your role will also change to one of facilitator.
Peer assessment
Students
individually assess each other's contribution using a predetermined list of
criteria. Grading is based on a predetermined process, but most commonly it is
an average of the marks awarded by members of the group.
One
of the ways in which students internalize the characteristics of quality work
is by evaluating the work of their peers. However, if they are to offer helpful
feedback, students must have a clear understanding of what they are to look for
in their peers' work. The instructor must explain expectations clearly to them
before they begin.
One
way to make sure students understand this type of evaluation is to give
students a practice session with it. The instructor provides a sample writing
or speaking assignment. As a group, students
Semester
III : EDU 13.2 – Emerging Trends and Practices in English Language Education
|
2016
21
|
determine what should be assessed and
how criteria for successful completion of the communication task should be
defined. Then the instructor gives students a sample completed assignment.
Students assess this using the criteria they have developed, and determine how
to convey feedback clearly to the fictitious student.
Students
can also benefit from using rubrics or checklists to guide their assessments.
At first these can be provided by the instructor; once the students have more
experience, they can develop them themselves. An example of a peer editing
checklist for a writing assignment is given in the popup window. Notice that
the checklist asks the peer evaluator to comment primarily on the content and
organization of the essay. It helps the peer evaluator focus on these areas by
asking questions about specific points, such as the presence of examples to
support the ideas discussed.
For
peer evaluation to work effectively, the learning environment in the classroom
must be supportive. Students must feel comfortable and trust one another in
order to provide honest and constructive feedback. Instructors who use group
work and peer assessment frequently can help students develop trust by forming
them into small groups early in the semester and having them work in the same
groups throughout the term. This allows them to become more comfortable with
each other and leads to better peer feedback.
Advantages:
o
Agreed marking criteria means there can
be little confusion about assignment outcomes and expectations.
o
Encourages student involvement and
responsibility.
o
Encourages students to reflect on their
role and contribution to the process of the group work.
o
Focuses on the development of student’s
judgment skills.
o
Students are involved in the process and
are encouraged to take part ownership of this process.
o
Provides more relevant feedback to
students as it is generated by their peers.
o
It is considered fair by some students,
because each student is judged on their own
o
contribution.
o
•When operating successfully can reduce
a lecturer's marking load.
o
•Can help reduce the ‘free rider’
problem as students are aware that theircontribution will
o
be graded by their peers.
Disadvantages:
o
Additional briefing time can increase a
lecturer’s workload.
o
The process has a degree of risk with
respect to reliability of grades as peer pressure to apply elevated grades or
friendships may influence the assessment, though this can be reduced if
students can submit their assessments independent of the group.
o
Students will have a tendency to award
everyone the same mark.
o
Students feel ill equipped to undertake
the assessment.
o
Students may be reluctant to make
judgements regarding their peers.
o
At the other extreme students may be
discriminated against if students ‘gang up’ against one group member.
Self assessment
This
is similar to peer evaluation but students assess their own contribution as
well as their peers using an established set of criteria.
Semester
III : EDU 13.2 – Emerging Trends and Practices in English Language Education
|
2016
22
|
Advantages:
·
Encourages student involvement and
responsibility.
·
Encourages students to reflect on their
role and contribution to the process of the group work.
·
Allows students to see and reflect on
their peers’ assessment of their contribution.
·
Focuses on the development of student’s
judgment skills.
Disadvantages:
·
Potentially increases lecturer workload
by needing to brief students on the process as well as on-going guidance on
performing self evaluation.
·
Self evaluation has a risk of being
perceived as a process of presenting inflated grades and being unreliable.
·
Students feel ill equipped to undertake
the assessment.
Self
assessment in Language Learning
Students can
become better language learners when they engage in deliberate thought about
what they are learning and how they are learning it. In this kind of
reflection, students step back from the learning process to think about their
language learning strategies and their progress as language learners. Such self
assessment encourages students to become independent learners and can increase
their motivation.
The successful use of student
self assessment depends on three key elements:
- Goal setting
- Guided practice with assessment tools
- Portfolios
Goal setting
Goal setting is essential because students can evaluate their progress
more clearly when they have targets against which to measure their performance.
In addition, students' motivation to learn increases when they have
self-defined, and therefore relevant, learning goals.
At first, students tend to create lofty long-range goals ("to
speak Russian)" that do not lend themselves to self assessment. To help
students develop realistic, short-term, attainable goals, instructors can use a
framework like SMART goals outline shown in the popup window.
One way to
begin the process of introducing students to self-assessment is to create
student-teacher contracts. Contracts are written agreements between students
and instructors, which commonly involve determining the number and type of
assignments that are required for particular grades. For example, a student may
agree to work toward the grade of "B" by completing a specific number
of assignments at a level of quality described by the instructor. Contracts can
serve as a good way of helping students to begin to consider establishing goals
for themselves as language learners.
Guided practice with assessment tools
Students do not
learn to monitor or assess their learning on their own; they need to be taught
strategies for self monitoring and self assessment. Techniques for teaching
students these strategies are parallel to those used for teaching learning
strategies. The instructor models the technique (use of a checklist or rubric,
for example); students then try the technique themselves; finally, students
discuss
Semester
III : EDU 13.2 – Emerging Trends and Practices in English Language Education
|
2016
23
|
whether and
how well the technique worked and what to do differently next time.
In addition to
checklists and rubrics for specific communication tasks, students can also use
broader self-assessment tools to reflect on topics they have studied, skills
they have learned, their study habits, and their sense of their overall
strengths and weaknesses. An example of such a tool appears in the popup
window.
Students can share their self-assessments with a peer or in a small
group, with instructions that they compare their impressions with other
criteria such as test scores, teacher evaluations, and peers' opinions. This
kind of practice helps students to be aware of their learning. It also informs
the teacher about students' thoughts on their progress, and gives the teacher
feedback about course content and instruction.
Portfolios
Portfolios are
purposeful, organized, systematic collections of student work that tell the
story of a student's efforts, progress, and achievement in specific areas. The
student participates in the selection of portfolio content, the development of
guidelines for selection, and the definition of criteria for judging merit.
Portfolio assessment is a joint process for instructor and student.
Portfolio
assessment emphasizes evaluation of students' progress, processes, and
performance over time. There are two basic types of portfolios:
·
A process portfolio serves the purpose
of classroom-level assessment on the part of both the instructor and the
student. It most
often reflects formative
assessment, although it may be assigned a grade at the end of the semester or
academic year. It may also include summative types of assignments that were
awarded grades.
·
A product portfolio is more summative in
nature. It is intended for a major evaluation of some sort and is often
accompanied by an oral presentation of its contents. For example, it may be
used as a evaluation tool for graduation from a program or for the purpose of
seeking employment.
In both types of portfolios,
emphasis is placed on including a variety of tasks that elicit spontaneous as
well as planned language performance for a variety of purposes and audiences,
using rubrics to assess performance, and demonstrating reflection about
learning, including goal setting and self and peer assessment.
Portfolio characteristics:
- Represent an emphasis on language use and cultural understanding
- Represent a collaborative approach to assessment
- Represent a student's range of performance in reading, writing, speaking, and listening as well as cultural understanding
- Emphasize what students can do rather than what they cannot do
- Represent a student's progress over time
- Engage students in establishing ongoing learning goals and assessing their progress towards those goals
- Measure each student's achievement while allowing for individual differences between students in a class
Semester
III : EDU 13.2 – Emerging Trends and Practices in English Language Education
|
2016
24
|
q Continuous and
Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE)
Continuous
and comprehensive evaluation (CCE) refers to a system of school based evaluation of students that covers all
aspects of students developmental activities. It is a developmental process of
assessment which emphasis on two fold objectives. These objectives are
continuity in evalution on the one hand and assessment of broad range of instructional
outcomes on the other.
It was designed to reduce the
student's stress related to board eams and to reduce a uniform and
comprehensive pattern for student evaluation accress the country. Clearly, it
attempts to shift emphasis from testing to holistic learningwith an aim of
creating young adults possessing appropriate skills and desirable qualities in
education to academic excellence. The concept of CCE has been embraced by the
Indian Educational Sytem in the 1980's after a consistent deliberation and
discussion with a view of improving the quality of education.
Concept of CCE
CCE refers to a
particular process of evaluation which is school based and aims at all around
development of the the student.The iprocess includes continuity of testing with
reasonable intervals and covering differnt aspects of curricular and
co-curricular areas.
It consists of
three keywords:-
·
The term continious refers to continuity and regularity of
assessment during the whole session. The frequency of class test, unit test and
terminal test can make the evalution regular.
·
The second term
is comprehensive. This refets
to the areas of assessment which includes both scholastic and co-scholastic
aspects of pupils growth helping the all around development of the child.
The
term comprehensive also includes the variety of evaluation tools and
techiniques to be employed for the assesment of scholastic and co-scholastic
areas
·
The third
component is evaluation. It is the process that deals witth the
collection of evidences regarding the changes which occur in the pupils
behaviour during the instruction.Evaluation involves steps i.e gathering
information, interpretaion of information, making judgements and taking
decission.
Need and relevance of CCE.
·
CCE is necessary
to develop cognitive skills and
de-emphasize rote learning.
·
To make
evaluation an integral part of teaching learnig process.
·
To maintain
desired standard of attainment.
·
To provide scope
for self evaluation.
·
To make education a student centric activity.
·
To continuously
evaluate the all-round development of the student and to give necessary feed
back.
Semester
III : EDU 13.2 – Emerging Trends and Practices in English Language Education
|
2016
25
|
o
The proposed Continuous and
Comprehensive
Evaluation (CCE)
should
take place at all levels of language learning. Language learning is a
continuous process and the assessment should be done periodically.
o
Evaluation
implies a critical assessment of educative process and its outcome in the light
of the objectives. It involves information gathering, information processing,
judgment forming and decision making. It has to be integrated with the total
teaching or learning process.
o
There has to be evaluation at every
stage, at the mastery of each skill and competency. Since any subject area is
related to total development, including a variety of cognitive and
non-cognitive experiences, evaluation becomes continuous, all-pervasive and
dynamic.
o
It becomes essential for the teacher to
adopt the scheme of continuous evaluation which helps in confirming regularly
whether or not the competencies have been mastered or not.
o
Evaluation should be comprehensive in
nature, wherein all language experiences pertaining to cognitive areas such as
knowledge, understanding and other mental abilities as well as non-cognitive
areas such as attitudes, appreciation, interest and psycho-motor skills are
assessed.
o
Learning takes place through group
discussions, pair discussions and individual attempts. Therefore, assessment
also should be made individually, mutual and in groups. This will help the
learners to compare their strengths and weaknesses and make modifications in
their learning. This shift of focus from testing memory to real language
acquisition shall be the major concern of all tests at the secondary level.
o
The ability of the student to construct
discourses at various levels will have to be assessed.
o
CCE also encompass a process
of self-evaluation and a plan for assessing learner’s speaking and listening.
q Common Core Standards –
European Framework
The Common European
Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment,
abbreviated in English as CEFR or CEF or CEFRL, is a guideline used to describe
achievements of learners of foreign languages across Europe and, increasingly,
in other countries. It was put together by the Council of Europe as the main
part of the project "Language Learning for European Citizenship"
between 1989 and 1996. Its main aim is to provide a method of learning,
teaching and assessing which applies to all languages in Europe. In November
2001, a European Union Council Resolution recommended using the CEFR to set up
systems of validation of language ability. The six reference level are becoming
widely accepted as the European standard for grading an individual's language
proficiency.
The CEFR divides general
competences in knowledge (descriptive knowledge), skills, and existential
competence with particular communicative competences in linguistic competence,
sociolinguistic competence, and pragmatic competence. This division does not
exactly match previously well-known notions of communicative competence, but
correspondences among them can be made.
The CEFR has three
principal dimensions: language activities, the domains in which the language
activities occur, and the competences on which we draw when we engage in them.
Semester
III : EDU 13.2 – Emerging Trends and Practices in English Language Education
|
2016
26
|
Language activities
The CEFR distinguishes
between four kinds of language activities: reception (listening and reading),
production (spoken and written), interaction (spoken and written), and
mediation (translating and interpreting).
Domains
General and particular
communicative competences are developed by producing or receiving texts in
various contexts under various conditions and constraints. These contexts
correspond to various sectors of social life that the CEFR calls domains. Four
broad domains are distinguished: educational, occupational, public, and personal.
Competences
A language user can
develop various degrees of competence in each of these domains and to help
describe them the CEFR has provided a set of six Common Reference Levels (A1,
A2, B1, B2, C1, C2).
The Common European
Framework divides learners into three broad divisions that can be divided into
six levels; for each level, it describes what a learner is supposed to be able
to do in reading, listening, speaking and writing. These levels are:
The
Common European Framework provides a common basis for the elaboration of
language syllabuses, curriculum guidelines, examinations, textbooks, etc.
across Europe. It describes in a comprehensive way what language learners have
to learn to do in order to use a language for communication and what knowledge
and skills they have to develop so as to be able to act effectively. The
description also covers the cultural context in which language is set. The
Framework also defines levels of proficiency which allow learners’ progress to
be measured at each stage of learning and on a life-long basis.
The Common European Framework is intended to overcome the barriers
to communication among professionals working in the field of modern languages
arising from the different educational systems in Europe. It provides the means
for educational administrators, course designers, teachers, teacher trainers,
examining bodies, etc., to reflect on their current practice, with a view to
situating and co-ordinating their efforts and to ensuring that they meet the
real needs of the learners for whom they are responsible.
The
aims and objectives of Council of Europe language policy
- that the rich heritage of diverse languages and cultures in Europe is a valuable
common
resource to be protected and developed, and that a major educational
effort
is needed to convert that diversity from a barrier to communication into a
source of mutual enrichment and understanding;
- that it is only through a better knowledge of European modern languages
that
it will be possible to facilitate communication and interaction among
Europeans
of different mother tongues in order to promote European mobility,
mutual
understanding and co-operation, and overcome prejudice and
discrimination
- that member states, when adopting or developing national policies in the
field
of modern language learning and teaching, may achieve greater convergence
at
the European level by means of appropriate arrangements for ongoing
co-operation and co-ordination of policies.
q Different Types of
Tests – Purpose and Mechanism
Principles of Language
testing; Vales of Tests and Examinations
Evaluation
is ‘a means’ to judge the achievement of the students in the field of
education. The measurement of achievement is done through tests and
examination. The term ‘test’ usually refers to the periodical assessment of
achievement of pupils from time to time. The term ‘examination’ is used to
refer to a set of large subjective questions. Evaluation is a much broader
term. It takes into account the growth of the child as a whole individual and
the total environment. Teaching and testing go hand in hand.
Semester
III : EDU 13.2 – Emerging Trends and Practices in English Language Education
|
2016
29
|
Evaluation
programme in English language teaching should be continuous and comprehensive.
It is based on a variety of internal tests which are spread over the whole
year, month after month. The works done by learners inside and outside the
classroom, assignments completed, homework done etc. are some of the activities
which are taken into consideration for comprehensive evaluation of individual
students. Continuous and comprehensive evaluation links objectives, learning
experience and evaluation tools.
Objectives
of Testing
Tests can be used for various
purposes. Some of them are:
§ To
find out pupils’ strength and weakness and take suitable remedial measures.
§ To
judge the success or failure of the teacher’s own teaching and make necessary
changes in the method and strategy.
§ To
set a definite goal before both the teacher and the pupils.
§ To
motivate the pupils to learn.
§ To
change pupils’ study habits and to improve the quality of teaching.
§ To
select pupils for promotion to the next higher class, or to award certificates.
§ To
assess the quality of staff and the effectiveness of the activities of the
school.
§ To
determine the readiness of the learner for the instructional programme.
§ To
measure aptitudes for learning
The characteristics of
a Good Test:
1) Validity
: It refers to the degree to which a test measures what it is supposed to
measure or if it can be used successfully for the purpose of which it is
intended.
2) Reliability:
A good test must be reliable. If the test puts several students in a different
order of merit when it is administered a second time, then the test lacks
reliability.
3) Objectivity
4) Discriminating
power: Test should be designed to show the difference in the performance of the
individual pupils. A good test will have good influence on both teaching and
learning.
5) The
test should neither be too difficult nor too easy.
6) The
instruction to the candidates should be clear.
7) Evaluation
should be in accordance with the objectives of teaching English.
8) Practicability
and flexibility.
Determination
of Validity and Reliability
Methods of determining
validity of an achievement test are:
§ Co-relating
it with another test.
§ Co-relating
it with teacher rating
§ Analyzing
the test to ensure that due weight has been given to content and objectives.
Semester
III : EDU 13.2 – Emerging Trends and Practices in English Language Education
|
2016
30
|
§ Item
analysis which implies that the items of the test have been arranged in the
order of difficulty.
The
common methods to determine reliability of a test are:
§ Test-retest
method
§ Parallel
form method
§ Split-half
method
§ Rational
equivalent method
Types
of Tests
Teacher
made tests Standardized
tests
Oral Written Performance attitude test
·
Essay object test aptitude
test
·
Short
answer performance measures intelligence test etc
·
Objective
type product evaluation
|
Types
of Evaluation
Formative
and Summative Evaluation
Formative
evaluation is the process by which the achievement of pupils is judged at every
stage of teaching learning process. Summative evaluation is the one
administered to pupils at the end of a lesson or unit of teaching.
Achievement
and Diagnostic Test
Any test designed to assess the achievement with regard
to some pre-determined objectives is called an achievement test. Diagnostic
tests are those designed to identify and investigate the difficulties,
disabilities and inadequacies of pupils in specific fields before they become
serious problems to themselves and the teacher.
Criterion-referenced
test and Norm-referenced test
Criterion referenced tests are those tests which measure
a student’s performance according to a particular standard or criterion which
has been agreed upon. A norm-referenced test is designed to measure how the
performance of a particular student or
group of students compares with the performance of another student or group of
students.
Knowledge test and Skill (Performance Test)
Test
of knowledge in English language show how well students know facts about
language while performance or skill test show how well he can use the language.
Subjective
and Objective Test
Subjective
test measure the language skills naturally.
Eg:
translation & essay writing
Objective
test can be scored quickly & consistently.
Semester
III : EDU 13.2 – Emerging Trends and Practices in English Language Education
|
2016
31
|
Productive &
Receptive
Productive
test measure creativity Eg. Exams in speech
Receptive
test like multiple choice, reading test etc. tend to rely on recognition.
Oral
Test
They are usually employed for testing listening
comprehension, speaking ability and reading comprehension. The following are
some of the examples for tests of listening or aural comprehension.
1) The
teacher speaks a few sentences and asks simple questions
2) Multiple
choice test
3) Matching
a sentence with the right picture.
4) Carry
out a request or order given by the teacher.
The
following are some of the examples for testing speaking ability or oral
production.
ü The
teacher refers to a particular picture and pupils describe.
ü Immediate
repetition of what is said.
ü Answering
questions about oneself.
ü Framing
questions to get an answer.
ü Describing
actions demonstrated by the teacher.
ü Narrating
a story or an incident.
Written
test
Written tests are used to test pupil’s
command on various aspects of language like vocabulary items, spelling
structure, word order, punctuation, general writing ability etc. they are also
called as paper and pencil test.
Types
of Questions
1. Essay
type:
They require long answers to the given questions based on the prescribed test.
The examiner judge the student’s ability by the subject matter, method of
expression and writing style. They are good to judge the power of reasoning,
originality and imagination. But they are greatly criticized for their
subjectivity, difficulty in marking, role of luck and scope for cramming
answers.
2. Short
Answer Type: They call for precision and brevity in
the in the use of language and sentence construction. They can be used to cover
a wide range of topics in the language.
3. Objective
type:
The answers to these questions are often single worded. They ensure objectivity
in testing and ease in marking. But they are not sufficient to test all the
language skills. Eg:- recall type,
multiple choice, completion type, true/false items, matching, transformation,
combination etc.
Semester
III : EDU 13.2 – Emerging Trends and Practices in English Language Education
|
2016
32
|
Unit
Test
Testing
is implicit in teaching and annual and terminal examinations are held to
evaluate pupil’s progress over a period of time. But these examinations are
usually held when the entire syllabus or a considerable part of it has been
taught, and as a result they cannot provide much guidance for taking remedial
measures or for answering the effectiveness the teacher’s method of teaching.
It is therefore desirable to have periodic tests at more frequent intervals.
For this purpose the entire syllabus can be broken down into manageable units
of some related topics or lessons and a test can be given as soon as each unit
is completed. Such tests are called unit tests.
These
tests may last only one lesson-period of 40 or 45 minutes and may be given in
usual classroom conditions. The scheme of work of the school should
specifically provide for one lesson-period at the end of each unit for such a
test.
Preparation
of Unit/ Achievement Test
Preparation of design, blue-print, question paper,
marking scheme and question-wise analysis are the major steps involved in the
construction of an achievement test.
(1)
Design
The first step
in assembling a test is to determine the relative weightages to be given to
different
·
Objectives
/ Mental process
·
Items
of content like vocabulary, structure, sentence construction etc.
·
Types
of questions like ET, SAT, OT
·
Difficulty
level, as otherwise the test may
not have the desired emphasis on these aspects. For this purpose, it is
necessary to first prepare a tentative design showing the weightages (in terms
of marks) on these aspects.
Mount Tabor
ekjijan@gmail.com
|
Semester
III : EDU 13.2 – Emerging Trends and Practices in English Language Education
|
2016
33
|
·
(2)
Preparation of Blue-print
This tentative design is then stated in operational terms
in the form of a blue-print, which contains detailed information on the
item-wise distribution of marks on these aspects. All the above data are to be incorporated in
a single chart called the blue print. It is a three dimentional chart giving
the placement of the objectives, content and forms of questions.
Semester
III : EDU 13.2 – Emerging Trends and Practices in English Language Education
|
2016
34
|
(3)
Organization of Test items
After including preliminary details such as name of exam,
title of the paper, maximum marks and time, instructions or direction for
answering questions etc., the test constructor has to arrange items in the
order of their difficulty level. It is preferable to have two sections in the
question paper- section A for Objective type and section b for SAT and Essay
type.
(4)
Scoring Key and Marking scheme
Question No
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
6
|
7
|
8
|
9
|
10
|
Scoring Key
|
A
|
C
|
D
|
B
|
C
|
A
|
B
|
B
|
D
|
A
|
Scoring should be made strictly in accordance with a
pre-designed scheme of evaluation. For multiple choice items, a scoring Key may
be prepared as given below:
In
case of SAT and ET questions, value points should be prepared for scoring, and
ET and SAT may contain one, two, three or more value points. Marks should be
assigned for each value point in order to make scoring as objective as
possible.
Mount Tabor
ekjijan@gmail.com
|
(5)
Question-wise analysis
This is done by making an analysis of each
item in the question paper. Taking into account all aspects that the test results- objectives and
specifications, forms of questions, difficulty level, marks and specified time.
Semester
III : EDU 13.2 – Emerging Trends and Practices in English Language Education
|
2016
35
|
ASSESSING LEARNER'S SPEAKING AND LISTENING
In
every module we transact in the class, we have to plan for assessing learner’s
speaking and listening too. It doesn't mean that every speaking and listening
activity of every learner has to be assessed then and there. We have to ensure
that speaking and listening are integral parts of every module. It is only
necessary to asses how pupils talk at particular moments when you decide
you need to.
Establishing
a climate for speaking and learning in challenging contexts might include the
following.
- Interacting with pupils freely in and outside the classroom.
- Talking about direct experience and encouraging pupils to do the same.
- Encouraging students to work in pairs and small groups and training them to share and value each other’s ideas and opinions.
- Setting up informal debates and discussions to encourage students to express their opinions and giving them a chance to speak to different audience.
- Allowing students to become involved in peer monitoring or watching interactive visuals to trigger
the inner language.
- Talking one to one with the pupils about the lessons, stories, characters and about other issues that the learners show much interest to talk about.
- Recording, assessing and rewarding learner’s oral constructs.
Cloze
Tests :
Gapped / cloze passages can be used for testing reading
comprehension; students cannot supply the missing words if they do not
understand what they read. The passage can be about a page in length with about
twenty or twenty-five deletions; the first and the last sentences are always
given in full without deletions. The deletion of words can be regular, random
or by deliberate choice.
Multiple- choice cloze tests give a choice of three or
four words and the student has to select one that best fits the gap. The test
can be banked cloze in which all the words are shown, but out of order, at the
bottom of the passage; that is, the word bank from which the selection is made.
For a passage of twenty blanks, the bank may offer thirty words.
Comments
Post a Comment