Assessment of Young Students Marcia Rosenbusch National K-12 Foreign Language Resource Center Iowa State University Eileen Lorenz Center for Applied Linguistics Washington DC

Student Oral Proficiency Assessment (SOPA) can do Goal: To find out what students can do with the language they are learning.

K – 12 Foreign Language Standards Standard 1: Communication Interpersonal Mode Interpretive Mode Presentational Mode Standard 2: Cultures Standard 3: Connections Standard 4: Comparisons Standard 5: Communities Standards for Foreign Language Learning in the 21 st Century. (1999). National Standards in Foreign Language Education Project. American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, et. al.

What Skills are Rated? Oral Fluency Grammar Vocabulary Listening Comprehension Each is derived from the ACTFL Guidelines, 1999.

Standard Immersion SOPA General Format:Objective: Warm-upPut student at ease Comprehension check: Novice Fluency: Novice Informal QuestionsComprehension check: Novice to Intermediate Fluency: Novice to Intermediate

Standard Immersion SOPA (cont’d) General Format:Objective: Descriptive TaskComprehension check: Intermediate Fluency: Intermediate Narration TaskComprehension check: Intermediate to Advanced Fluency: Intermediate to Advanced

Standard Immersion SOPA (cont’d) General Format:Objective: Rules TaskComprehension check: Advanced Fluency: Advanced

Warm Up: (Put students at ease) Introductions Task 1: Fruits/other objects (Identify, name) Goal: To assess listening, word-level speech Task 2: All about You (Answer informal questions) Task 3: Community or Classroom Activity (Follow/giving commands, describe) Wind down: Finish at student’s comfort level Goal: To give students opportunity to create with language on familiar topics Goal: To give students opportunity to create sentence- level speech Non-Immersion SOPA

Task 1: Fruits Identifying (Where are the red fruit?) Naming (What is this fruit called?) Following instructions (Put the fruit here. Count them.)

Task 2: All About You All about you Answering informal questions How old are you? What do you do on your birthday? Do you have brothers or sisters? Would you like to have a sister/brother? Do you have a pet? What is it called? What is it like? Why?

Task 3: The Community Identifying Following instructions Describing What do you have there? Where is the red fire truck? Where is the fireman? Take the dog. The dog is playing with a ball in front of the apartment building. What is the mailman doing in the pet store? What is the woman doing? Why?

Wind Down Following instructions Positive ending, task students can complete successfully! Simon says... Touch your head; Raise your right hand; Touch your left eye. Clap for both of you.

K–12 Foreign Language Standards 1–3 Warm-up (Saludos)Interpersonal Identifying/Naming (Frutas)Interpretive, Interpersonal, (Animales) Making Connections Answering Informal Questions (Gustos y Vida Personal)Interpersonal, Interpretive, Cultural Practices Giving Commands/Describing (Como Crecen las Plantas) Interpretive, Interpersonal (El Ciclo de Aqua) Making Connections Narrating Presentational (Ricitos de Oro y los Tres Osos)Presentational, Interpersonal Speaking to Persuade Presentational (Reglas Nuevas)Interpersonal, Interpretive, Presentational Wind-down (Simón Dice)Interpretive Cultural Awareness Cultural Products, Practices, Comparisons American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. (1999). Standards for foreign language learning: Preparing for the 21st century. Yonkers, NY: ACTFL.

Tips for Effective SOPA Interviewing/Rating Well matched pair Quiet Room

Greet the students, introduce yourselves As you begin the Interview… Make the interview pleasant and put students at ease Allow students to assist each other

More Interview Tips Explain why you are conducting the interview Call each student by name Make smooth transitions from one activity to the next Use only the language you are assessing Pace the interview well Give students equal opportunities

Find out what students can do, the “ceiling” Last, but certainly not least… End with a question/command that students can complete successfully Congratulate the students on their performance and give them a small reward for their participation AFTER the students leave, discuss their ratings.

SOPA Rating Scale: Main Levels Junior Novice Junior Intermediate Junior Advanced

COPE/SOPA Rating Scale Sublevels  Junior Advanced-High  Junior Novice-High  Junior Intermediate-High  Junior Advanced-Mid  Junior Advanced-Low  Junior Intermediate-Low  Junior Intermediate-Mid  Junior Novice-Mid  Junior Novice-Low

For More Information SOPA training is offered through 2-day, live workshops Online training courses Contact: Lynn Thompson Or visit