Unit 15 Assessment in Language Teaching

Teaching objectives

By the end of the lesson, students should be able to:

know what assessment is and how it is different from evaluation and testing

know the purpose of assessment know the methods of assessment know the criteria for assessment know the principles of assessment know the function of tests in assessment

Teaching contents

Understanding assessment

Assessment purposes

Methods for assessment

Criteria for assessment

Assessment principles

Tests in assessment

Understanding assessment

finish task 1, ticking the right ones that they think can best describe what assessment is.

the differences between testing, assessment, and evaluation.

Testing: done at the end of a learning period; result expressed by a mark, a grade or ratio; students compared with each other.

Assessment: involving the collection of information or evidence of a learner’s progress or achievement over a period of time for the purpose of improving teaching and learning; not based on one test or task; students are measured against his/her own starting point.

Evaluation: involving making an overall judgment about one’s work or a whole school’s work.

task 2 :group discussion

read the definition of the

above three terms again.

explain to each other how

testing is related to

assessment and assessment

to evaluation.

back

2. Assessment purposes

why is assessment necessary?

what are testing , assessment and evaluation for?

Testing for school’s and parent’s benefit

Assessment for teacher’s and learner’s benefits

Evaluation for the authority’s benefits

what does assessment have to do with administrators, teachers,

parents and students?

back

3. Methods for assessment

Speaking of assessment

methods, many teachers

immediately think of tests.

Assessment includes testing

but definitely not only

testing.

methods of assessment what are summative assessment and formative

assessment respectively?summative assessment: based on testing, done at the end of

a learning period.; focus on memory work; cannot be used to inform teachers’ teaching and students’ learning

formative assessment: based on information collected in a classroom during the teaching process; providing more information.

the methods of assessment1) testing; 4) self-assessment and peer assessment

2) teacher’s observations 5) project work3) continuous assessment 6) portfolios

task 6 :group discussion

If you are given the chance to assess the student’s overall language achievement in whatever methods they like, how would you do it.

write your steps and reasons for doing so.

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4. criteria for assessment

Depending on different language assessment purposes and the stage at which the assessment is made, assessment should be made according to different criteria or references.

4.2 the criteria for assessment

answer the following questions:

what is criteria-referenced assessment?

what is norm-referenced assessment?

what is individual-referenced assessment?

4.3 task 7

answer the question: What are the possible advantages and disadvantages of different assessments based on different criteria?

write your answers in the chart on page 256.

back

5. Assessment principles assess authentic us of language in reading, writing,

speaking, and listening. assess literacy and language in a variety of contexts assess the environment, the instruction, and the students assess processes as well as products analyze patterns of errors in language and literacy. base assessment on normal development patterns and

behavior in language and literacy acquisition clarify and use standards when assessing reading,

writing, and content knowledge. involve students and parents, as well as other personnel

such as the ESL or mainstream teacher, in the assessment process.

make assessment an ongoing part of every day.

It is ideal if assessors can follow all these principles. But in reality, it is very difficult to achieve this.

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6. Tests in assessment

We have said that testing does not equate with assessment, but testing is, at least now, the most widely used method to collect information for the purpose of assessment. So it is desirable and necessary for teachers to familiarize with testing techniques.

test formats

questions and answers true or false questions multiple-choice questions gap-filling or completion matching questions dictation transformation translation essay writing interview

task 9

answer the questions:

what are the advantages and disadvantages of testing?

what are the usual formats of the tests that you have

taken in your experience of English learning?

Is there any particular format that you like or dislike?

Give your reasons

Conclusion

In this unit, we started with a discussion on what assessment is in order to understand the differences among testing, assessment, and evaluation. Then we discussed assessment methods.

Assessment can be done in many ways. Testing is only one of them. Whatever methods or formats are used, assessment must always follow a set of principles which guarantee assessment validity and reliability.

Thank you