Assessing Comprehension without English

Sara-Elizabeth Cottrell

KWLA Fall Conference

September 26-27, 2008

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Overview

Background

Theory

Putting theory to practice– On-the-spot assessment

– Systematic assessment (quizzing)

– Writing

– Testing

Examples

Conclusion

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Background

My journey: from textbook…

– Grammar-centered education

– Textbook-centered teaching

…to linguistics…

…to storytelling.

– How do children learn language?

– How can I mimic this process in the classroom?

– Does it really work?

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Background

Terminology

– Second Language Acquisition (SLA)

– L1/L2

– Lexicon

What is the field of SLA all about?

– The ‘black box’: What happens in the student’s brain between input and output?

Why look to SLA theory?

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Explicit instruction

– Aware of learning (Krashen, DeKeyser)

– Aware of what’s being learned (Doughty)

– “Focus on forms”

Implicit

– (Unconscious) acquisition (Krashen)

– Unaware of “learning” (DeKeyser)

– “Focus on form” (Doughty & Williams)

Research areas:

Comprehensible inputExplicit vs. implicit instruction

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Comprehensible input in your classroom: Krashen’s I+1 in practice

Students are working hard to understand, but they can’t:

TOO HARD!

Students understand without effort:

TOO EASY!

Students have to try, but theycan understand:

JUST RIGHT!

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“Noticing”

– Teacher calls attention to a particular feature.

– Examples:

asking questions to draw a specific answer

verbally pointing something out

bolding and colors

– caminaron

– trabajaron

Especially effective for older students

Research area:

Attention and memory

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Modeling the L2 lexicon

Returning to the ‘black box’: what’s going on with the L2 in the brain?

L1 WORDS L2 WORDS

UNIFIED CONCEPTUAL STRUCTURE

L1 CONCEPTS L2 CONCEPTS

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Modeling the L2 lexicon:Implications for instruction

Concept:

developed by

experiencing

something

flowerL1 word associated with

concept– very strong bond

la flor

L2 word: goal is to develop a

strong bond with the

concept, not with the L1 word

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Theory to practice:

On-the-spot assessment

Straightforward: “Do you understand?”

Leading through serial questions

– Starting from the beginning

– Getting students involved

– Including possible answers to clarify question words

When English is necessary

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Theory to practice:

Systematic (short) assessment

Writing quiz questions

– Focusing on target vocabulary

– Adding clarifying possible answers

Assessing quiz answers

– Allowing variable answers to keep assessment valid

– Giving partial credit for understanding the question

– Using notes/dictionary

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Theory to practice:Systematic writing assignments

Why have them?

– Low-risk language production

– Readily apparent student-hypothesizing

– Collaborative learning/scaffolding

How to grade them?

– Periodically in chunks of assignments (4 over 2 weeks, e.g.)

– Only over the target linguistic feature

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Theory to practice:

Testing

Writing communicative tests– Be creative: use high-interest/strange questions and

pictures.

– Make sure questions have been addressed before.

– Target specific features.

– Specify what points are assigned for what features.

Grading tests– Mark as appropriate, but deduct only as specified.

– Make point values mean something (may result in <100 pt. tests).

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Theory to practice:

Examples

Continual questions

Class blog

Quizzes

Regular writing assignments

Testing

Projects

Final exams

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Theory to practice:

Grading assessment

Have specific expectations.

Refuse to be distracted by errors unrelated to current assessment (shortens grading time).

Consider using point values less than 100.

Consider adding quiz totals for a test grade at regular intervals (i.e. once per quarter).

If communicative competence is your goal, evaluate that.

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Conclusions

SLA research supports a communicative approach that uses as little English translation as possible in order to build true proficiency.

It is possible (and worth it) to almost completely throw English translation out from your assessment.

As a last resort, asking for or providing translation can be valuable if the alternative would consume too much time.

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Thank you!

Any questions?

musicuentos.blogspot.com

secottrell@whitefield.org

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References

DeKeyser, R. 2003: Implicit and explicit learning. In C. Doughty and M. Long (eds), The Handbook of Second Language Acquisition. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 313-348.

Doughty, C. 2003: Instructed SLA: Constraints, compensation, and enhancement. In C. Doughty and M. Long (eds), The Handbook of Second Language Acquisition. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 256-310.

Doughty, C. and Williams, J. 1998: Issues and terminology. In C. Doughty and J. Williams (eds), Focus on Form in Classroom Second Language Acquisition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1-11.

Ellis, R. 2005: Principles of instructed language learning. System, 33, 209-224.

Gass, S. 2003: Input and interaction. In C. Doughty and M. Long (eds), The Handbook of Second Language Acquisition. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 224-255.

Krashen, S. 2006: Carolina TESOL/SCFLTA conference, Columbia, S.C., March 18.

Lightbown, P. 2000: Anniversary article: Classroom SLA research and second language teaching. Applied Linguistics, 21, 431-462.

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Modeling the L2 lexicon, cont.

Inhibitory Control (IC)

– Green, D.W. (1998). “Mental control of the bilingual lexico-semantic system.” Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 1, 67-81.

– See also Kroll & Bialystok.

Revised Hierarchical Model (RCM)

– Kroll, J. F., & Stewart, E. (1994). Category interference in translation and picture naming: Evidence for asymmetric connections between bilingual memory representations. Journal of Memory and Language, 33, 149-174.