Assessment of English discursive competence

Authors’ Names: CHUN YI LEE, Fabio Meneses and

Laura Romero.

Advisor’s Name: Wilder Escobar

Academic Program: Bilingual Education Degree

Institution: El Bosque University

2013

Theoretical Framework

DiscursiveCompetences

Canale (1984)

Communicative

Competences

Canale (1984)

Assessment

Nicol & Macfarlane (2007)

Assessment

Nicol & Mcfarlane

(2007)

Clarify what good

performance is

Students’ information about their learning.

Teacher and peer

dialogue

Self-assessment in learning.

Communicative

Competences

Discursivecompetence

Meaningful unity of spoken or written texts

Pragmaticcompetence

Creating and understanding

discourse

Languagecompetence

Use language resources to

form well-structured messages

Discursive Competences

• Resources to assess

discursive competences.

Statement of the

problem

• Learning goals for discursive competences.

Statement of the

problem

• Electronic portfolio as an important tool.

Rationale

• Assess fluency and grammar.

• Compare and contrast students’ oral production.

Research question:

What is the impact of an electronic portfolio

on the assessment of English discursive

competence for tenth grade-students’ in a

public High School in Bogotá, Colombia?

General Objective:

To attest the impact of electronic portfolios on the assessment of English discursive

competence.

Specific Objectives:

To describe the processes of designing lessons for, and assessment of, discursive competence through

implementing electronic portfolios.

To establish learning goals to assess discursive competence in EFL learners based on their progress and

performance, using electronic portfolios as an assessment tool.

Type of study:

1. Qualitative Research:

Denzin & Lincon (2000).

2. Descriptive research:

Gay (2006).

3. Action Research:

Ferrance (2000).

Instruments:

Interviews:

Tests:

Electronic portfolio

Setting and participants: Population:

Institution: Cristobal Colon High School.

Grade: Tenth

Location: San Cristobal Norte

Schedule: 6:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.

Number of students: 30

Ages: 16 – 59 years old

English level: Elementary

Instructional Design

Field observation

Teachers needed to improve student assessment practices

Planning

Researchers gathered information and collected data

Tests

Speaking tasks were designed by researchers

Categories

Fluency

Vocabulary Self-

awareness

“Monserrate is good place /pla-ce/ in the downtown you can find a catholic church, restaurants and a beautiful /be-a-u-ti-ful/ riew of the city”.

Pro

nu

ncia

tio

n

Hesita

tion

“e… I……. Stay in

Bogota, este…….

To…. visit the place”.

Pronunciation

To speak the properly Phonetics.

Gilakjani (2011)

Hesitation

Pauses of varying lengths.

Rieger (2003)

Fluency

Vocabulary

TOPIC: KINDS OF

TRANSPORTATION IN

BOGOTA AND HOW

INTRODUCE THEM TO

FOREIGN PEOPLE

DATE: September 14th 2012

Types of transportation:

1 . B i c yc l e

2 . B u s

3 . C a r

4 . M o t o r c yc l e

5 . T a x i

6 . T r a n s m i l e n i o

Ve r b s :

1 . C a n ( a u x i l i a r y )

2 . G e t ( v e r b )

Self-awareness

Self- reflection

A tool for professional

development.

Lenburg (2000)

Self-correction

Learners notice some of their

errors.

Makino (1993)

“Me gustaría aprender a pronunciar y a escribir

bien en ingles”.

Tenth grade-students of English.September21st.

“Monserrate is good place /pla-ce/ in the downtown you can find a catholic

church, restaurants and a beautiful /be-a-u-ti-ful/

view of the city”.

Used to assess other competences or

different subjects in different contexts.

Teachers could modify and improve

their further activities.

1. Fluency improvement through watching

videos.

2. Vocabulary improvement through

visual aids.

3. Self-awareness improvement through

analysis.

Conclusions

References Canale, M. (1984). Communicative Competence Approaches to Language Proficiency

Assessment: Research and Application. Clevedon, Avon. Multilingual matters Ltd.

Cunningham, M. (1999).Improving adult English language learners’ discursive skills.Washington, DC: National Center for ESL Literacy Education.

Gilakjani , A. (2011). Why is Pronunciation So Difficult to Learn? English LanguageTeaching, 4(3), 74-83.

Lenburg, C. (2000). Promoting Competence through Critical Self-Reflection andPortfolio Development: The Inside Evaluator and the Outside Context. TennesseeNurse, 63(3), 11-18.

López, R. (1995). Teaching and learning vocabulary: an introduction for English students.Magisterio de Albacete. UCLM,1(1), 35-49.

Makino, T. (1993).Learner self-correction in EFL written compositions.ELTjournal, 47(4), 337-341.

Nicol, D.& Macfarlane‐Dick, D. (2007). Formative assessment and self‐regulatedlearning: a model and seven principles of good feedback practice. Studies in HigherEducation. 31 (2), 199–218.

Rieger, C. (2003). Disfluencies and hesitation strategies in oral L2 tests.ISCA Archive, 5(8), 41–44.