May 19, 2007

Effective Classroom Assessment for EFL Learning in Chinese Context

Zhihong Huang

Teaching Research Office, Education Department of GuangdongE-mail: helenhzh@163.com

Challenges to teachers

Questi onai re aboutformati ve assessment

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5

3

13

8

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18

22

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Technique

Function

Concept

Know wel l Know some Know l i t t l e

Sept. 2002

Purpose of the study

To find out practical ways for EFL teachers to make classroomassessment more effective in learning process in Chinese context

Parts of the talk1. Why classroom assessment is reco

mmended2. What should be assessed3. Alternative techniques for effective

classroom assessment 4. Suggestions on feedback5. A case of classroom assessment

Why classroom assessment CA is a simple method used to collect

feedback for improving learning and teaching.

Purpose: Help students check their strengthens,

problems or difficulties in learning for improving learning as often as needed

provide quick guidance and feedback to teachers for improving their teaching plans and strategies

Features of CA (Briggs, 2003)

Embedded in the teaching and learning process

Involves sharing learning objectives with students

Involves students in self- (group-) assessment

An effective way to support teaching and learning in ELT classroom

综合语言运用能力

情感态度

学习策略 文化意识

语言技能 语言知识

国际视野

祖国意识

合作精神

自信意志

兴趣动机

交际策略

资源策略

调控策略

认知策略

跨文化交际

文化理解

文化知识

话题

功能

语法

词汇

语音写读说听

What to assess

Adopted from Liu Zhaoyi’s PPT

What to assessStudents' comprehensive ability in using English which is in 5 major areas: language skillslanguage knowledgeaffective and attitudeslearning strategiesand cultural awareness

Basic principles for CA

What we assess should meet with what we teach.

An example: to show how to make the five targets go down to teaching objectives, and then to assessment criteria

Teaching objectives:By the end of the lesson, the students will be able to use the vocabulary learnt about food and drink as well as the patterns used for ordering food in both oral and written form confidently. They will be able to make an order for the western lunch in groups, through which they will develop skills and understanding in cooperative work. Course targets Assessment

contentsAssessment criteria

Language knowledge

Vocabulary and patterns about food and drink

Be able to say and write the words and patterns correctly.

Language skills Speaking, reading and listening related to the topic

Be able to express what food and drink they like for lunch.

Culture awareness

Western people’s Favorite food

Be able to order the proper western food.

Affects Confidence, participation, cooperation

Be confident in speaking and writing; Be able to participate in group work actively and cooperatively.

Learning strategies

Effective learning and communication

Listen to others attentively. Be active to share ideas with others.

In fact, it is sometimes unable to cover all the aspects of the course targets in one lesson or a unit due to the limitation of the topic or the contents

Alternative assessment techniques

Non-verbal Responses Oral Interview ObservationEffective questioning Role Play with peer assessment

They are informal, non-tested, unconscious.

Exemplar1: Non-verbal Responses Children have just learnt some of the body words. In order to check whether children can understand them by hearing, their teacher asks them to response what they hear with physical performances, that is, when the teacher says: “ Touch your nose.”, the children give the response by touching his/her nose. In this way, the teacher may observe who can or cannot do it. If all of the children can follow, it gives the teacher a signal that he / she can move on his / her teaching. Otherwise, the teacher should do something to improve that.

Exemplar 2: Oral Interview Students are asked to talk about a picture. They can choose one of the pictures relevant to the topic of their favorite sport from the textbook. Students are required to use the topic language. Each can talk in the group first and then to the teacher. The teacher may assess them with a checklist.

Checklist on mini-talk

Contents Excellent Good OK Need to improve

The talk is relevant to the picture.

The related language was used correctly.

Speak fluently and clearly.

Talk in good manners (Keeping eye- contact, with facial expressions etc.)

Exemplar 3: Observation Observation Sheet

Items Contents Yes No

Talkinglistening

Does the child:1. participate in group and class discussion?2. listen to other’s talk and respond to it?3. express ideas in clear and appropriate language?4. match his / her talking manner to the needs of his /her classmates?

Exemplar 4: Effective questioningQuestion sheet

(For the primary textbook: Friends With English, Book 4 Unit 3 I’m washing the car.)

Purpose Task Questions Able to Not yet able to

To check children’s understanding of the conversation

Answer theQuestions orally.

What day is it today?Who is going to play?Can Jenny play with Gogo? Why?Can Tony play with Gogo?What is Tony doing?What is Gogo doing then?Is Gogo happy?What do you usually do on Sunday?

Exemplar 5: Role Play with peer assessment

Performance Task: Students use role play cards to play the roles of shop assistant and customer.Assessment task: Students assess their partners or their classmates on how well they can carry out the role play by putting a tick in some column.Name: Role:Criteria Able

toPartly able to

Not yet able to

1. Understand the task instructions given in English.2. Speak with fluency and confidence.3. Use appropriate intonation, rhythm and stress.4. Use an appropriate group of vocabulary and phrases.5. Interact in a polite and friendly manner.

More other types

projects, portfolios, learning tasks, activities of games, quizzes, conferencing, dialogue journals, self-assessment, peer and group assessment or process writing and speaking

However, teachers should

not expect to use any techniques exclusively

consider about their own teaching contexts, esp. their students’ need

know very well about each technique’s merits, uses, problems and shortcomings

Suggestions on feedbackLet students know about their performancesthe suggestions on how to build on

their strengths and overcome their weaknesses in learning

how to make good use of the feedback and wash back to their learning

Feedback

Positive comments and constructive criticism will be more helpful for students to “bridge the gap” between the present performance and the future goals (Briggs.M & Woodfield A., 2003).

Checklist on mini-talkName: Lin feng Time: 2004-3-23

Criteria Excellent Good OK Need to improve

The talk is relevant to the picture.

√

The related language was used correctly.

√

Speak fluently and clearly.

√

Talk in good manners (Keeping eye- contact, with facial expressions etc.)

√

Interpretation The student could tight his talk closely to the topic. And he tried to use what he had learnt to talk about the picture, but he made some mistakes that influenced his accuracy and fluency. However, he could act in an appropriate manner while talking. That means the student could understand the requirement of the task and was good at interacting with his audience. Yet he needs more speaking practice, including pronunciation and intonation. On the other hand, the teacher need to give some individual support to him and plan some more time on language teaching and practicing in next teaching, or she may help students to review the language before assessment. In this way, they may have more successful experience.

Positive feedback

You could tight your talk closely to the topic, and tried to use what you had learnt well to talk about the picture. You could also act in an appropriate manner while talking. That means you could understand the requirement of the task and was good at interacting with your audience. Yet, you made some mistakes that influenced

your accuracy and fluency. So you need more speaking practice, including pronunciation and intonation. I am sure you can do the work much better next time. Please read my comments carefully and do what

you need as well as you can.

Constructivecriticism

Strategies

Feedback to Lin Feng

A case of classroom assessment

The exemplar is from my project “Onresearch of assessment tools for and of Basic English learning”

(one of the key projects of Basic Education in the 15th Guangdong Education Development Plan )

Be clear about: Who to be assessed? What to assess for? What Ss have learned? What is the focus? What are the criteria? What tools to be used? Who to be assessors? What resources to be needed? How to manage the task? And how to use the feedback, for what?

Task: A city poster

Level: Grade 1, junior school = Band 3

Purpose: To collect on-going information about how

well students have learned the topic my city in the process of teaching and learning and then wash back to improve their future learning.

Assessment criteria Have the concept of city life either in China

or in the other countries; Be able to collect the information needed

about the city to be talked; Be able to present the city tour information in

both oral and written forms with visual aids; Be interested in and actively involve the

group activities cooperatively; Be able to design the city poster as required.

Task description

Each group chooses a familiar city andmakes a poster illustrated with photos andan English introduction in order to attracttourists to come.

The poster should provide necessary informationabout the city for tourists, such as its area,population, climate, scenic spots and something

interesting to do in the city, etc.

Then one student is selected from each of the gr

oups to introduce the city and the scenes in class according to the poster as a local tour guide.

Meanwhile, the other students will assess the p

artners’ performance with the checklist.

At last, the teacher and the class students will vote for the best poster, the best introduction and the best tour guide.

Checklist (Peer-assessment) for the task: A city posterTargets Expected performances Grade

A B C DActive attitudes

1.Have interests in collecting information

2.Actively take part in group work

CulturalAwareness

3.Know what kind of information is about Chinese cities and the cities of other countries4.Collect the city information needed including its area, population, climate and thing to see and do

Reading Writing

5. Read and write tour information correctly in a poster

Listening Speaking

6. Introduce the city to others fluently and respond to other’s introduction properly

Learning strategies

7. Design the city poster as required and looks nice.8. Use visual tools such as pictures, objects.

Positive and constructive feedbackStudents Problems Comments

A Made spelling mistakes

You really did a very good job, except a few spelling mistakes in the poster.

B Not speak fluently

You have finished your task well, but it would be perfect if you had practiced your oral introduction beforehand.

C Not provide enough information

You have showed your good abilities in writing and speaking. Why not add some information about the city climate to your poster later on?

D No pictures You did present a very good introduction to the city. With some pictures or drawings, your poster may look more impressive.

… … …

How to carry out the task?

Before assessment,

create warm atmospheregive clear instructions inform students assessing criteria

During assessment,

monitor students’ performances support their work if necessarytake some notes with appropriate c

hecklists

After assessment,

make comments on students’ work or grade and mark their work interpret the resultwrite feedback to students

Questionnaire for the students:1. Did you know you were being assessed during

the class? 2. If you have a right to choose, which do you

prefer, a paper test or such kind of task? 3. Do you think the result given by your partner

is fare to you? 4. Can what you have learned in this unit greatly

help you to finish the task? 5. What are your strengths and weaknesses in

doing the task?

1. Di d you know you were bei ngassessed dur i ng the cl ass?

YesNo

2. I f you have a r i ght to choose,whi ch do you pref er , a paper test

or such ki nd of task?

Paper test

non- testedtask

3. Do you thi nk the resul t gi venby your partner i s f are to you?

YesNo

4. Can what you have l earnedi n thi s uni t greatl y hel p you

to fi ni sh the task?

YesPart i al l yNo

5. What are your strengths and weaknesses in doing the task?

Personalized

One of the teachers said,

“I have never thought that my students could do such a good job. I found them enjoyable.”

The other teacher reflected:The task can help us assess what we have taught. I found my students felt free when they were being assessed. I am sure they will like to learn English if we assess them in this way. However, if I am asked to design such a task, I may not be able to do. I have no time. On the other hand, I feel challenging to manage about 60-student class. It is hard to monitor their activities.

ImplicationsThe feedback indicates that CA canreduce the pressure and make Ss

feel free to expressreinforce the current teaching and

learning and make it effectiveobserve or assess more than testingprovide a real environment to use

English and more English exposure

Peer assessment canhelp student see the purpose of

their study make them take the responsibility

for their own studylearn to cooperate with others

Issues and conflicts

No good policy to make CA accountable as a part of outcome for graduation

Difficult to ensure the reliability and the moderation in self- assessment or peer-assessment with large-scale classes

Difficult to ensure each of the teachers to be a good designer and assessor in terms of the curriculum according to their own context

Time-consuming while using some good tools like portfolios

Although we have embraced the idea ofchanges and have thus done considerable work to push the reform forward, we still have a long way to go. Therefore, further research in the Chinese context is muchneeded to bring the formative assessment into classroom that will not only reward students and teachers, but also make it an integral part of the school assessment policy.

Reference:

Asher, J. 1988. Learning another language through actions: The complete teacher's guidebook, (3rd ed.), Los Gatos, CA: Sky Oaks Productions.Briggs, M. Woodfield, A. Martin, C. Swatton, P. (2003) Assessment for learning and teaching in primary school Learning Matters Ltd.Brown, J.D. 1998, New Ways of Classroom Assessment. TESOLInc.Cameron, L. 2001. Teaching Languages to Young Learners. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

Cunningham, G.K. 1998. Assessment in the Classroom London: The Falmer PressDFS. 1988. National Curriculum task force for assessment and testing (TFAT): A report. London: DFSThe Education Department HKSAR. 2002. English Language Education Key Learning Area Curriculum Guide (Primary 1Secondary 3) Hong Kong: the Printing Department of HKSARThe Education Department of Hong Kong 1997 Target Oriented Curriculum Assessment Guidelines for English Language Hong Kong: Printing Department

Kassim Shaaban, (2003) Assessment of Young Learnershttp://exchanges state.gov./forum/vols/vo139/no4/bioKelner, L. B. (1993) The creative classroom: A guide for using creative drama in the classroom, Pre K-6. Portsmouth, NH:Heinemann.J.D. Brown, 1998 New Ways of Classroom Assessment Bloomington: Pantograph Printing, Illinois USAMinistry of Education, P.R. China, 2001 National English Curriculum ( in Chinese) Beijing: Beijing Normal University PressMoon, J. 2001. Children Learning English. Oxford: Macmillan Education

Time for questions.

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