Higher School of Economics Department of Foreign Languages EAP assessment: Challenges and trends Svetlana Bogolepova Associate Professor Higher School of Economics Department of Foreign Languages Высшая школа экономики, Москва, 2017 www.hse.ru

Outline 1. EAP: features 2. Components of ESP ability. 3. Features of academic discourse. 4. Recent trends and research. 5. Principles of good assessment. 6. Proposed scheme.

EAP: features - goal-oriented - needs analysis (content relevant to context) - fixed period - adult learners - various fields (A. Gilette http://www.uefap.com/bgnd/eap.htm)

EAP: features Robinson (1991): EAP = study skills Study skills (Richards et al., 1992): abilities, techniques and strategies which are used when reading, writing, or listening for study purposes (e.g. using the dictionary, guessing from context, interpreting graphs, note-taking, summarising) focus on form → focus on strategies + Academic literacies: cultural knowledge required for success in academic communities (Hyland&Hamp-Lyons, 2002) Robinson P. ESP today: A practitioner's guide. London: Prentice Hall, 1991. Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics. Pearson Education, 2002. Hyland K. &Hamp-Lyons L. EAP: issues and directions. Journal of English for Academic Purposes. 2002. №1. pp. 1-12.

Components of Specific Purpose Language Ability Language knowledge Grammatical (vocabulary, morphology, syntax, phonology) Textual (cohesion, organisation) Functional (ideational, manipulative, heuristic, imaginative) Sociolinguistic (varieties, registers, idiomatic expressions, cultural references) Strategic competence Assessment (evaluating the communicative situation, the appropriateness of response) Goal setting (how to respond to a communicative situation) Planning (elements of language + background knowledge to reach the goal) Control of execution (organising the elements to carry out the plan) Background knowledge Douglas D. Assessing Languages for Specific Purposes. CUP, 2000. p. 35.

Features of Academic Discourse Features of academic discourse (esp. writing): - high lexical density (high proportion of content words in relation to grammar words) - high nominal style (actions and events are presented as nouns) - impersonal constructions Hyland K. English for Academic Purposes. An advanced resourse book. Routledge, 2006. p. 13.

Recent Trends - increased variety of tools and techniques - detailed study of consequences - understanding of the unity of assessment and learning - tailored assessment (context + students' needs) - erosion of boundaries - new understanding of psychometric characteristics and teachers' role - understanding of learning and assessment as social acts Stoynoff S. Looking backward and forward at classroom-based language assessment // ELT Journal. OUP, 2012. Vol. 66/4. p. 523-532.

Static vs Dymanic Assessment Static Assessment Dymanic Assessment - focuses on the outcome of past development - looks at mature abilities - examiner neutral and disinterested - little or no feedback - forgrounds future development - looks at the abilities which are still maturing - examiner = interventionist - specific form of feedback — mediated assisstance Lantolf J., Poehner M. Dynamic Assessment of L2 Development: Bringing the Past into the Future. Journal of Applied Linguistics. Equinox Publishing, 2004. Vol. 1.1. p. 49-72.

Dynamic Assessment Base: Vygotskian sociocultural principles of learning Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) Mediation: prompts hints leading questions examples demonstrations Shrestha, Prithvi and Coffin, Caroline (2012). Dynamic assessment, tutor mediation and academic writing development. Assessing Writing, 17(1) pp. 55–70. Feedback on draft, two sessions, implicit and explicit

Recent Research Seviour M. Assessing academic writing on a pre-sessional EAP course: Designing assessment which supports learning // Journal of English for Academic Purposes. 2015. №18. pp. 84-89. Formative + summative in coursework essay development Jefferey R. Using feedback comments to develop a rating scale for a written coursework assessment // Journal of English for Academic Purposes. 2015. №18. pp. 51-63. Rubrics development based on feedback

Principles of good assessment - explicit criteria, familiar methods and tasks (transparency) - assessment aims = learning outcomes = competencies (criteria-referenced scales → validity, reliability) - based on real academic practices (validity) - rater training → consistent scoring (rater reliability) - regular monitoring and interventions if necessary - student involvement (peer- and self-assessment) - achievement assessment at the end of the period (best performance) - feedback for improvement - results reported in understandable manner Hyland K. English for Academic Purposes. An advanced resourse book. Routledge, 2006. p. 302.

Proposed Scheme * - more detailed and precise assessment criteria Language Strategies/ study skills Competence Ongoing assessment (60%) + + (in progress)* Summative assessment (40%) - + (the result) * - more detailed and precise assessment criteria Course paper: support on the course + academic supervision

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