TANM-ANG-113 - ELTE BTK/PPK MA in ELT Methodology Lectures – Ildikó Lázár
ALTERNATIVE APPROACHES TO ASSESSMENT AND FEEDBACK
Types and aims of tests
A test is a formal or informal method of measuring students’ knowledge and/or abilities in a given area. A test inevitably samples performance but infers certain general competence on the basis of the sampled performance (Brown, 2007).
Placement test: to see which group a student should be placed in according to level
Diagnostic test: to see what a certain group of students needs to learn / practice
Achievement or progress test: to measure students’ achievement at the end of a unit / course
Proficiency test: to measure and compare students’ global competence in a given language or other subject (Brown, 2007)
What makes a good achievement test?
validity – the test measures what it is intended to measure
practicality – the test has to be practical regarding financial limitations, time constraints, ease of administration, and scoring and interpretation
reliability – the score will be the same or very similar if the test is taken at an another time or if it is corrected by someone else; it is consistent and dependable
advance preparation – teacher can raise awareness of test-taking strategies, lower anxiety, help students prepare for tests
face validity – the students feel that the test measures what it is supposed to measure
principle of authenticity – the language used in the test is natural, authentic and provides a familiar context
washback effect – the effect the corrected test has on the learners (positive or negative)
(Brown, 2007, pp. 251-257, pp. 270-272)
TANM-ANG-113 - ELTE BTK/PPK MA in ELT Methodology Lectures – Ildikó Lázár
Reconsidering the aims of assessment
Assessment can be undertaken for different purposes:
· to help the teacher’s planning of further classroom work based on information gathered about learners’ progress over a period of time (formative assessment)
· to measure and document learner achievement to feed into externally imposed record-keeping (summative assessment)
· to give grades as expected by the school and the parents
· to fill the register as expected by the school / the authorities
· to focus on mistakes/difficulties /weaknesses
· to indicate strengths / achievements
· to motivate/encourage learners
· to give content feedback
· to help learners assess their own progress over time (self-assessment)
· to keep track of learners’ progress on a regular basis (continuous assessment)
TANM-ANG-113 - ELTE BTK/PPK MA in ELT Methodology Lectures – Ildikó Lázár
Changes in content, format, marking criteria and attitudes:
The content of language tests has become broader with more emphasis on sub-skills involved in listening, speaking, reading and writing. In the communicative era tests tend to focus on the learner’s ability to extract meaning and to convey messages in both written and oral performance. Tasks have become more life-like, and marking criteria focus on aspects of communicative language use in addition to the traditional criteria (Hedge, 2000, pp. 382-384).
Alternative approaches to assessment
Alternative assessment is usually taken to mean assessment procedures which are less formal than traditional testing, which are gathered over a period of time rather than being taken at one point in time, which are usually formative rather than summative in function, are often low-stakes in terms of consequences, and are claimed to have beneficial washback effects (Alderson and Banerjee, 2001).
Feedback
Feedback is information that is given to the learner about his or her performance of a particular learning task, usually with the objective of improving this performance (Ur, 1991). Any meaningful feedback is going to involve judgment.
Some examples for alternative (formative) assessment methods
· observation-driven assessment that focuses on both language and content, a teacher’s diary-type record of learners’ achievements and weaknesses, also known as learner profiles;
· portfolios kept by the learners themselves that contain samples from a variety of the learners’ work (compositions, drawings, notes, pictures, audio or video-recordings, project results, etc.), discussed with and always made available for inspection for both the learners themselves and the teacher;
· learners’ personal diaries, similarly to the portfolio, contain samples of the learners’ work, help document the learning process and encourage continuous self-assessment;
· projects, debates, role-plays, dramatizations, etc. evaluated by self, peers, and/or the teacher;
· tests that actually give real feedback with narrative evaluation to encourage learners and help them see their strengths in addition to their areas for improvement (Hedge, 2000; Tsagari, 2004)
· gamification, meaning game elements used in classroom assessment (fun points, trophies)
References:
Alderson, J. C. and Banerjee, J. (2001). Language testing and assessment. Language Teaching 34, 4:213-236.
Brown, H.D. (2007). Principles of Language Learning and Teaching. (3rd ed) Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Hedge, T. (2000). Teaching and Learning in the Language Classroom. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Tsagari, D. (2004). Is there life beyond language testing? Introduction to alternative language assessment. CRILE Working Papers 58
Ur, P. (1991). A Course in Language Teaching. Cambidge: Cambridge University Press.
Weir, C. R. (1990). Communicative language testing. New York: Prentice Hall.
Compulsory reading:
Hedge, T. (2000). Teaching and Learning in the Language Classroom. Oxford: OUP (pp. 375-378, 384-401).