Using CEFR to assess discussions in class

DrAnnaMakarovaCentreofForeignLanguages(FZHB)

UniversityofBremenIATEFLconference2018

BrightonUsingCEFRtoassessdiscussionsinclass

DrA.Makarova

How Common European Framework of Reference for languages can beusedforselectinganapproachtoteachingandfordevisinganassessmentform.SharingresultsofmyactionresearchonteachingandassessingdiscussionPart1:• WhatisgenremethodologyandwhyitisusefulforteachingdiscussionPart2:•  HowdiscussionassessmentformwasdevelopedonthebasisoftheCEFR•  Avideoofstudents’participationinanargumentativediscussion•  Conclusions•  References

Common European Framework of Reference for languages: Learning, teaching, assessment Aims:• Toprovideacommonbasisforthedevelopmentoflanguagesyllabuses,examinations,textbooksetc.acrossEurope;•  toprovidedescriptorsfordifferentskillsandcompetenciesinmodernlanguages;•  toovercomethebarrierstocommunicationcausedbydifferenteducationalsystems

Argumentative discussion •  Exchangeofideas•  Interaction,involvesbothlisteningandspeaking,receptionandproduction

https://www.google.de/search?q=interaction+communication+group+cartoon&safe=active&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjmv6GbrqraAhUGL1AKHfqyDcIQ_AUICigB&biw=1455&bih=677#imgrc=JOayBPQbk5jwYM

No sufficiently strong research-based consensus on howlearnerslearn(Chapter6CEFR).

Teachersneedprovidetherichestpossiblelinguisticenvironmentin

whichlearningcantakeplacewithoutformalteaching.

Somebelievethatthosewhohave

learntthenecessaryrulesofgrammarandlearntvocabularywillbeableto

understandandusethelanguage.

‘Mainstream’teachersandlearnersfollowmoreeclecticpracticesrecognisingthatlearnersrequiremorecontextualised

input

•  Theaimistofamiliarisestudentswithfeaturesofgenresrelevanttotheindependentproductionoftheirowntextsforsimilarcontexts.

Genre-basedapproachinlanguageteachingmeansusingtarget

textsandrecordingsasmodels

Usingtheconceptof‘genre’forteaching

SystemicFunctionalLinguistics(SFL),Halliday(1994),Martin(1984)EnglishforSpecificPurposes(ESP)Swales(1990)

Oralgenres

Businessdiscussion PresentationinMarketing

• Planningforspokeninteractioninvolvestheactivationofschemata(i.e.adiagramrepresentingthestructureofacommunicativeinteraction)oftheexchangepossibleandprobableintheforthcomingactivity(CEFR,p84)

• Genre-basedapproachoffersmethodologyfortheactivationofschemata•  Learnersneedtolookatamodel,atanexampleofacommunicativeeventandtoanalyseitsstructureandlinguisticfeaturesthataretypicalofthisinteraction.

Whatdoesteachinganargumentativediscussioninvolve?

The main stages of teaching/ learning a genre can be summarised as follows: • Demonstrate

Analyse

PractiseParticipate

Assess/evaluate

Stage 1: demonstrate Directexposuretoauthenticuseoflanguage.

ExtractsfromTVdiscussions,youtubevideos

Demonstratinganauthenticinteractionisusefulformakingstudentsawareofwhatiscommonpracticeinthistypeofcommunicationinthetargetlanguage

Tasks to students while they are watching Reflect3dimensionsoforalinteraction:sound,organisation,behaviour

•  1)analysingthestructureoftheinteraction,organisationofthearguments;•  2)Identifyingintonationpatterns,grammaticalandrhetoricalfeatures;•  3)Analysingnon-verbalcommunication/gestures,facialexpressions

Examples of questions to students while they are watching a video •  Identifythestructureofthediscussion.• Howareargumentsstructured?• Whichspeakerssoundparticularlyconvincing?Why?• Whichrhetoricaltacticsdotheyusetosoundmoreconvincing?• Whatistheroleofgestures?Dotheyhelptolookmoreconvincing?• Howdothespeakerstaketurns?Howlongdotheyspeak?Aretheyinterruptedbyotherspeakers?• Whatisthedifferencebetweenthisdiscussionandthewayitisheldinyourculture?

Stage 2: practice. Teaching rhetorical tactics. Starting a turn. 1. Workinpairs.StudentA:thinkof5statementsthatyouwouldliketomakeaboutadvantagesof…….Youcanusequestiontagstoaskrhetoricalquestions.Choosetherelevantbeginningsfromtheonesbelowtosaythem.Listentoyourpartnerwhoisgoingtoexpresshis/herviewinresponsetowhatyousay:1.  Ihavetosay2.  Icantellyounow3.  thequestionhasgottobeasked4.  whatI’msayingisthat

5.  CanIjustsay6.  Letmeaskyouaquestion

7.  Ijustwanttosay

•  StudentB:Ifyouagreetosomeextentordisagreeandwanttomakeacontrastingpoint,startyourargumentbymentioningwhatyouagreewithfirst,andthenmakeyourpoint.Usethefollowingphrasestostartyourargument:

•  Youarerightinsayingthat….,but• Nobodyisdenyingthat….• Butdon’tyouthinkthat…• Well,myviewis…(ifyoudisagree)

• Well,…(ifyoudisagree)

Agreeing/disagreeing

• Referringtowhatotherpeoplesaid:• Usethefollowingphrasestorefertowhatyourpartnersaidinthepreviousexercise:•  Comingbacktoyour(astudent’sname)pointthat…•  I’mfollowingyour(astudent’sname)earliercomments•  addressingthepoint•  relatingtoanotherpoint•  Talkingabout•  Withregardsto…•  asfaras……………………..isconcerned

Teaching to use cleft sentences to emphasise ideas •  Completethefollowingstatementsandusetheminyourarguments:

Example:Whatisespeciallyimportantistoprovideopportunitiesfor…...

1. Whatisespeciallyimportantis…2. Whatshouldbedoneis…3. Whatisworryingis(that)…4. Thepointwhichisreallyimportantis(that)5. Itis…..thatweneed/don’tneed

Stage 3. Participation of students in an argumentative discussion. • Beingabletotakeuppositions,pursueargumentsandexpoundonone’sopinionsinrealtimeisachallengingtaskevenfornativespeakers.• Homeworktasktoprepareforparticipationinadiscussion

Exampleofatask:

Groupsofstudentsperforminturninfrontoftheirclassmateswhoactastheaudienceorcanbepairedupwiththe

studentstogivefeedback.

Part 2. Creating a discussion assessment form •  TheFrameworkprovidesillustrativescalesforassessingformaldiscussionsandmeetings(p.78):

C1 Learnerscaneasilykeepupwiththedebate,evenonabstract,complexunfamiliartopics.Canargueaformalpositionconvincingly,respondingtoquestionsandcommentsandansweringcomplexlinesofcounterargumentfluently,spontaneouslyandappropriately.

B2 cankeepupwithananimateddiscussion,identifyingaccuratelyargumentssupportingandopposingpointsofview.Canexpressideaswithprecision,presentandrespondtocomplexlinesofargumentsconvincingly.

B1 Canfollowmuchofwhatissaidthatisrelatedtotheirfield,providedinterlocutorsavoidveryidiomaticusageandarticulateclearly.Canputoverapointofviewclearly,buthasdifficultyengaginginadebate.

Communicative Language competences:

Linguisticcompetences

Socio-linguistic

competences

Pragmaticcompetences

Functionalcompetences

Discoursecompetences1)  Grammaticalrange

andcontrol2)  Vocabulary3)  Phonologicalcontrol4)  Semantic

competence5)  Orthoepic

competence

1)Flexibilitytocircumstances2)Turntaking3)Thematicdevelopment4)Coherenceandcohesion

1)  Fluency2)  Propositional

precision

Discussion assessment form: •  Pragmaticcompetences:•  A)Takingpartinadiscussion;•  B)Fluencyandspontaneity•  C)Turn-taking•  Socio-linguisticcompetences:•  Useofrhetoricaltactics•  Linguisticcompetences:•  A)Vocabulary-range•  B)Grammar-rangeandcontrol•  C)Phonologicalcontrol

1. Takingpartinadiscussion.1 Providesseveral-wordinappropriatecontributionsveryrarely2 Makesafewcontributions,butdoesnotexpressone’spointofviewclearly3 Isabletofollowadiscussionandmakesomerelevantcontributions4 Isabletofollowadiscussionandmakewell-formedknowledgeablecontributions5 Takesanactivepartinadiscussion.Isabletoformulateideaselegantly.Demonstrates

excellentknowledgeofthetopic

2. Fluencyandspontaneity1 Speakswithlongpauses,producesincompletestretchesofspeech2 Overrelianceonwrittenmaterialwhileexpressingone’spointofview,makeslongpauses

andhesitateswhilespeaking3 Generallyfluentspeech,somerelianceonwrittenmaterial4 Goodfluentspeech,someshortpauses5 Excellentandspontaneousspeech

1. Turn-taking1 Unabletotaketurnsatasuitabletime2 Attemptstotaketurnsbuttimingisinappropriate.Speakseithertoolongortooshort3 Attemptstotaketurnsatthecorrecttime.Notalwayscorrectlength4 Takesturnsatappropriatetimeandmakesappropriatecontributions.5 Excellentturn-taking,appropriatetiming,appropriatelengthofcontributions

2. Useofrhetoricaltactics(additionalpoints)

1-2-3

Usesdifferentlinguistictacticstoemphasisetheirargument:rhetoricalquestions,cleftsentences,etc.(dependsonthenumberandappropriateness)

1-2 Canmanageone’sturninadiscussion:isabletorefertoparticularpointsinadiscussion,cansequenceone’sarguments

• Discussionismorechallengingthanpresentationasitinvolvesproductionandreceptionstrategies•  ThestudentshadnothadpreviousexperienceoftakingpartinadiscussioninEnglish•  Theyareusingdifferentrhetoricaltactics,suchasreferringtoparticularpoints,rhetoricalquestions,etc.•  Theassessmentformisanimportantmotivationfactor

Advantages of the assessment form •  Itcanbeusedfor:•  1)settingobjectivesattheinitialstagewhenstudentsneedtounderstandwhichlevelofproficiencytheyareexpectedtoachieve;•  2)forself-assessmentandfortheformativeassessmentduringthecourse.•  3)Forthesummativeevaluationattheendofthecourse(forexamination).

Conclusion • Genre-basedapproachmakesitpossibletocombineusingauthenticmaterialswithinvolvinglearnersinparticipatinginaninteraction.• Assessmentformwasdesignedtoevaluatecompetencesinvolvedintheproductionofgenreofdiscussion.•  Thenoveltyoftheapproachliesinincludingcategorieswhichreflectthecharacteristicsofspeechdemonstratingthatthegenreofdiscussionhasbeenmastered.• CEFRishelpfulfordesigningtheform,however,ourownknowledgeandexperienceisneededtofillinthegaps

References • CommonEuropeanFrameworkofReferenceforLanguages:Learning,teaching,assessment(2011),12thprinting,CambridgeUniversityPress• Halliday,M.A.K.(1994)AnIntroductiontoFunctionalGrammar,EdwardArnold,London•  Swales,J.(1990)GenreAnalysis:EnglishinAcademicandResearchSettings,Cambridge,CambridgeUniversityPress.• MakarovaA(2013)Anexaminationoftheconceptof‘genre‘asatoolforthedesignspeakingactivitiesforESPpurposes‘OpenUniversity,Dedthesis

THANKYOUFORYOURATTENTION

anna-mak@hotmail.co.uk