Assessing Young Learners

Evaluation, assessment, testing the process of collecting relevant information to determine the successfulness of a program relevant information, e.g. teachers’ & parents’ opinion, textbook quality, etc. evaluation tools, e.g. tests, questionnaires, etc.

Evaluation, assessment, … (cont’d) all methods used to collect information about children’s knowledge, ability, understanding, attitudes & motivation assessment instrument, e.g. tests, self-assessment can be formal or informal Formal assessment  under controlled condition Informal assessment  by observing children’s behavior

Evaluation, assessment, … (cont’d) Testing one of the procedures used to assess the performance of a child has a certain objective  checks whether the child achieves the objective or not can be in the form of tasks or exercises can be marked or graded

Teaching & assessment Assessment should closely linked to teaching methodologies (CLL, task-based & authentic learning, children autonomy, critical reflection) used with children not be seen as something different but as something fun to do not create anxiety or other negative feelings

Why assess YLs? to monitor & aid their progress to provide them with evidence of their progress  enhance motivation to monitor the teacher’s performance & plan future work to provide information for parents, colleagues & school authorities

What do we assess? Skills development listening  check progress in a variety of listening sub-skills speaking  check communicative ability in basic functions reading  assess reading sub-skills writing, e.g. mastering the Roman alphabet, copying, handwriting, etc.

What do we assess? (cont’d) Learning-how-to-learn skills help children develop useful learning habits Attitudes can be done during conferencing, questionnaires & observation create profiles of individual children enable teachers to interfere if a child expresses (over)negative feelings Conferencing  informal & friendly chats with children

What do we assess? (cont’d) Behavioral & social skills Is a child a good team member? being polite? sensitive to others’ feeling? appreciative of others’ efforts? etc.

How do we assess YLs? Language portfolios a collection of work samples produced by a child over a period of time can include written work, drawings, projects, etc. offers a more complete picture of a child’s work & development should be for the child him/herself

How do we assess YLs? (cont’d) Structured activities/tasks assess knowledge, skills, attitudes & the ability to apply them to new situations reflect main teaching principles (e.g. authenticity, child-centered, etc.)

How do we assess YLs? (cont’d) Projects assess mix-ability groups can integrate language skills & promote creativity should assess group as well as individual work

How do we assess YLs? (cont’d) Self-assessment promotes very useful learning skills (e.g. monitoring one’s own progress, reflecting on one’s abilities & learning style, etc.) gives children an insight into the criteria used by others gives children a sense of empowerment examples: portfolios, questionnaires, conferencing, etc.

How do we assess YLs? (cont’d) Peer-assessment help children learn to respect, accept & learn from each other help children gain insight & be responsible in applying certain criteria promote the feeling of togetherness

How do we assess YLs? (cont’d) Traditional tests examples: multiple-choices, true-false, cloze-tests objective, easy to mark, easy to prepare intimidating & stressful for children do not tell much about children actual ability

How do we assess YLs? (cont’d) Learner-developed tasks encourage responsibility & maturity children can contribute or help create a task children have to think about what they are supposed to know children have to set appropriate criteria personalized less threatening

How do we assess YLs? (cont’d) Take-home tasks completed at home after discussion in class should have a deadline usually integrative (e.g. projects) suitable for mixed-ability classes promote autonomous learning go hand-in-hand with learning-how-to-learn skills

How do we assess YLs? (cont’d) Observation assess children’s behavior, attitudes & performance very subjective  should be used in combination with other methods

How do we assess YLs? (cont’d) Conferencing children should feel comfortable to express themselves freely can be one-to-one or in groups of four suitable for assessing speaking skills, attitudes, learning styles & extensive reading can be written (e.g. evaluation sheets, questionnaires)

Is this assessment? Aim check children’s LL progress Measurable results measurable evidence of children’s language development Criteria each task specifies a set of criteria defining what children should be able to do to show understanding

Is this assessment? (cont’d) Children’s tendency towards assessment children behave differently during assessment period Specific timing Children’s participation Record keeping/learner profiling

How to give feedback feedback should be given ASAP … can be given in a variety of ways (e.g. individually, in groups, to the whole class) … can be self-correction or peer-feedback … helps children to discover their strengths & weakness, to persist in their learning

Marking schemes Discrete-point marking schemes used for activities having clear-cut or objective answers usually associated with number or mark should be accompanied by comments on individual performance Marking schemes  a way of indicating the level of children’s achievement  how they have achieved the aims of the assessment task

Marking schemes (cont’d) Speaking & writing marking schemes a form of record keeping & reporting serves 2 purposes: more practical & less time-consuming provides consistent criteria

Assessment of group work feel much safer than individual assessment suitable for mixed-ability classes provides opportunities for assessing social skills (e.g. cooperation) should value individual contribution can be teacher-, self- or peer-assessment