Assessment is a measure of what students are learning. Its purpose is to improve

student learning. It can be thought of as a review of students’ work.

Assessment measures are based on how well students are meeting learning objectives and

curricular goals.

.

Which is the "best” type of assessment in your view? Please define.

Formative Assessment

Summative AssessmentAssessment should reflect the coverage of skills, functions ,

language and topics that students experience in their materials.

Making Your Assessment a “Good Assessment”

To make your test is a good one, do the following:1.Do formative assessment throughout the year and

adjust your lessons when necessary: Remember, you’re teaching the students, not the lesson.

( portfolio is a good helping tool )

2.Make sure your test is both valid and reliable. In other words, make sure you are actually testing what you wish to test, and not something else ( Match with objectives). Also, make sure your test results will be as consistent as possible, especially among different

teachers marking the exam.

Speaking

Reading Writing

Listening

Level

ItemLevel 1 Level 2 Level 3 Levels 4,5

Reading 11 14 11 12

Writing 11 11 14 12

Grammar 7 6 6 6

Vocabulary 7 5 5 6

Translation 4 4 4 4

Final Exam Marks’ Final Exam Marks’ DivisionDivision

3. For summative evaluations, use a variety of test-item types: Use direct and indirect, discrete-point and integrative, multiple-choice and open-ended, and so on.

ListeningWhat should be assessed?

Strategies

Listening

Speaking

Vocabulary Expressions (Function) structure

Speaking What should be

assessed?

Talking about possible plans / making quick decision:

- What / When are you going to …..? - I think I’ll …. - I guess I’ll …Making Suggestion and Responding:- Why don’t …. -That’s a good idea.- How / What about …. - Sounds great.- Let’s …. - I’d love to but …. - I’m sorry I can’t because

Making requests:Would you mind….?Could you / I …..?Would you…….?

Refusing:Sorry, I can’t….I’m sorry but……- I’d like to do but…

Accepting:- Sure.- Of course.- No problem.- definitely.

Making Complaints:I’m sorry to bother you but…….. I hate to have to tell you this but ….Excuse me, but…… I’m afraid, …

Apologising:I’m awfully sorry.I’m sorry I didn’t realize……Sorry. I’m sorry to hear that

CATEGORY 4 3 2 1 S

GrammarGrammar covered in class was used to communicate effectively.

A few minor difficulties arose from not using the grammar studied in class.

Grammatical errors led to many minor difficulties or one major breakdown in communication.

Grammatical errors severely hindered communication.

Vocabulary Vocabulary studied in class was used to express ideas eloquently.

A few minor difficulties arose from not using appropriate vocabulary.

Some difficulties arose due to limited vocabulary and/or bad diction.

Communication was severely hampered due to lack of vocabulary.

 

Fluency

Student acted as a facilitator, helping the conversation flow and develop.

Some minor difficulties maintaining the conversation were evident.

Some effort was required to maintain the conversation. There may have been a few long pauses.

Much effort was required to maintain the conversation. There may have been many long pauses.

 

Listening

Student responded to questions with appropriate answers, acknowledged all statements, and incorporated them into the discussion.

Student responded to most questions, acknowledged most statements, and incorporated many of these into the conversation.

Student failed to answer some questions appropriately OR failed to acknowledge some statements and incorporate these into the conversation.

Student didn't understand or ignored most questions and statements. Student may have been using notes.

 

Voice and non-verbal

communication

Pronunciation was clear and inflection and expressions were used to enhance communication.

No serious problems arose, but better pronunciation, inflection, and/or non-verbal communication could have made communication more efficient.

Some communication problems arose due to unclear pronunciation and/or lack of inflection and/or expression. Student may have been difficult to hear.

Pronunciation, inflection, and/or expression confused communication. Student may have been very difficult to hear.

 

Form

Function

Strategies

Reading

Speaking

Writing

Listening

VocabularyExpressionsstructure

Strategies

Structures & techniques for different types

Strategies

CompareCompare

Step One : know the language content you are going to assess.( Book Map )

Step Two: Know the language skills you are going to cover in the exam and how many marks are you going to give them. ( Book Map + TM (objectives) + Marks division)

Step Three: Know how many items to have in your test so that one part of the test does not become more important than another.

Step Four: Know the kind of tasks you are going to use. ( Rubric for activity types)

Steps for Writing a Good Test

Task Type Can be used with

Circle the odd word out and explain why it doesn’t fitCheck the statements true or false(correct the wrong ones)Write sentences about your family using so( that )/ to / because/ soCircle the correct verb,Match the topics below with the facts on the right.Write the past participle of these verbsComplete the table with words from the boxComplete the conversationComplete the conversation with may/might,,,,Circle the odd word out

Rubric for activity TypesRubric for activity Types

Step Five : Have a set of principles which guide assessment:

Students of all levels of ability can demonstrate their knowledge of English.

Reflect the coverage of skills, functions , language and topics that students experience in their material.

Employ tasks and exercise types that students are familiar with.

Discourage ( avoid) rote learning and memorization by using the same vocabulary, themes and structures but not in identical form.

Step Six: know how to correct your test. Set rules for correcting open ended questions

and questions which encourage productivity.

Rubrics are recommended when correcting:Writing. Translation.

Step Seven: Check the language, rubrics, spelling ,layout of the test.

Items test recognition, memorization.Items test one skill only (discrete).Tasks Encourage production and variation.Tasks test strategy - what?Instructions are similar to the ones in the bookQuestions are open ended / subjectiveQuestions are Objective / only one answer is correctSome questions lead to the answers of other questionsReading text exceeds the number of words students are used to Some items are given more importance than others

Time for applicationTime for applicationEvaluate the questions using the following check list

A ReminderA Reminder MCQ in Assessing MCQ in Assessing vocabulary. vocabulary. - Question should be clear from the stem

- Provide sufficient context in the stem- Standardize the number of response options (4 is considered best!)- Distracters should come from the same frequency level as the word being tested- Make sure all response options are the same part of speech of the answer.- Make sure all response options are approximately the same length and level of difficulty - Place the correct answer equally in the A, B, C and D positions- Avoid providing grammatical clues in the stem or using absurd distracters.

Final Points on a “Good Test”When making a test remember to do the following:

1.Follow the Ministry of Education guidelines for test preparation and marking, including how to score and

weight each item. (NOTE: The Ministry requires tests to be both valid and reliable).

2.Test students only on what you’ve actually taught and what you feel confident that they’ve reasonably

understood.3.Give students reasonable practice with exam-type

questions (not with exam questions!) before the test.4.Finally, always remember that the purpose of making an

exam is to see what students have gained from your lessons—not to make something “easy to mark.”

Nevertheless, do make your exams as marker-friendly as possible.