Mathematical Symbols

Compiled by Nofvia De Vega, M.Pd

Strategies for Assessing Listening Comprehension

by Dr. Nancy Montgomery

Listening comprehension is considered the first step in acquiring language. English language learners (ELL) have greater comprehension skills than language production skills.It is to the advantage of the teacher to assess listening comprehension to have a grasp of the extent to which students understand oral language.

In assessing the listening comprehension of adult ELL there are some issues that must be considered. Where do we start? What are some strategies to use in the assessment? Is assessing listening skills fruitful, and will it help students with language acquisition?

All of these are good questions, so let's start by considering what impact listening has on the literacy development of the ELL. Oral language development proceeds in basically two languages: the language of school and the language of home. Although listening and speaking interact, listening comprehension is the first step in a student acquiring language. Students generally have greater listening comprehension than ability to produce the appropriate word (Gottlieb, 2006). Listening to a second language entails the same auditory processing as listening to the first language, and learners make the same type of errors whether learning their first or second language but for different reasons! So let's explore a few of the reasons why ELLs commit these errors.

There are four major reasons why the ELL makes listening errors:

Not acclimated to the linguistic system of English; Unfamiliar with the socio-cultural context of the message; Differing background knowledge; Influence of their first language in terms of vocabulary, phonetic system, and cultural

nuances. (Buck, 2001)

So, the question now is how can the listening of ELLs be assessed?

First, the purpose of the assessment must be determined. If the purpose of the assessment is only to gauge the student's progress in listening, then there are two choices for assessment. One of the choices is discrete-point testing in which the elements of language are isolated and may be appropriate for diagnosing specific linguistic aspects of listening. A good example of this assessment is students being able to discriminate phonological tasks such as recognizing minimal pairs [where the sole distinction between words is a sound or a phoneme (the smallest unit of sound)], as in chip and ship, pat and pet, dear and deal (Gottlieb, 2006). An excellent way of assessing this skill is through minimal pair bingo. Adult learners love to play this game!

Another choice for gauging the student's progress in listening is performance-based assessment which is based on the communicative approach (Cohen, 1994). There are several types of

Mathematical Symbols

Compiled by Nofvia De Vega, M.Pdperformance activities that may be used for assessment during instruction. Activities that most adult learners enjoy are sorting pictures or matching pictures, words, and phrases based on oral descriptors, reenacting or role playing scenes from a narrative text read aloud, and constructing and filling in models, maps, and timelines from oral directions. Other performance activities for assessment of listening comprehension, all of which are based on oral directions, are designing and evaluating information on charts, graphs, and tables; or responding to oral commands as well as sequencing illustrations developed by the student or teacher. Even though there is a tendency to think of assessing listening comprehension as too time-consuming or to misunderstand its impact on language acquisition, there are many strategies that can be used effectively for assessment.

Secondly, in addition to determining the purpose of assessment, we need to consider how we document the results of our listening comprehension assessment. Needless to say, there has to be a plan – one that reflects how often assessments will take place as well as what strategies will be used. Basically, teachers have three ways of documenting listening assessment. They include

Anecdotal evidence (an informal recording of notes on the results of strategies used). Performance indicators for listening; mark during the week of the performance or tasks

used and date them. This helps teachers monitor how often and how they assess listening skills and the results.

A checklist where the teacher simply checks the name of students when they have met the language demands of the assessment.

As ELL educators, we must keep in mind that listening is the first step in language acquisition, and we must take the time to assess and keep records of the progress of our students.

ReferencesBuck, G. (2001). Assessing listening. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Gottlieb, M. (2006). Assessing English language learners : Bridges from language proficiency to academic proficiency. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Symbol Read as Example

Mathematical Symbols

Compiled by Nofvia De Vega, M.Pd(Dibaca) (Contoh)

= equals, is equal to(sama dengan)

2+2=4 [Two plus two equals four], [Two plus two is equal to four]A=b  [a equals b], [a is equal to b]

≠

 does not equal, is not equal to(Tidak sama dengan)

1+1≠3 [One plus one is not equal to three], [One plus one does not equal three]

< is less than(lebih kecil dari)

4<5  [Four is less than five]0 < x <1   [zero is less than x is less than 1]

> is greater than(lebih besar dari)

3>2  [Three is greater than two]

≤ is less than or equal to(lebih kecil atau sama dengan)

5≤6 and 5≤5  [Five is less than or equal to six, and five is less than or equal to five]0 ≤x ≤ 1  [zero is less than or equal to x is less than or equal to 1]

≥ is greater than or equal to(lebih besar atau sama dengan)

2≥1 and 2≥2 [Two is greater than or equal to one, and Two  is greater than or equal to two]

+ Plus(tambah)

2+3=5  [Two plus three equals five] A+b   [a plus b]x + 1  [x plus one]

- Minus(kurang)

5-3=2  [Five minus three equals two]2 - 6 = -4 [Two minus six equals negative four]

× Times(kali)

4×5=20 [Four times five equals twenty]A x b [a times b]

÷ divided by(dibagi)

20÷4=5 and 20/4=5 [Twenty divided by four equals five]

/ Over; divided by(per, dibagi)

a/b[a over b], [a divided by b]1/2 [one half],  1/3 [one third],  1/4 [one fourth], 5/2 [five halves], 2/3 [two thirds], 7/10 [seven tenths]

[the quantity x squared plus three (pause) divided by x], [x squared plus three (pause) all over x]

√ square root(akar kuadrat)

√4=2 or -2  [square root four is two]√x   [(square) root x ], [the square root of x]

[cube root (of) x]

  [fourth root (of) x]

Mathematical Symbols

Compiled by Nofvia De Vega, M.Pd[the eighth root of thirty-two]

! factorial(faktorial)

5!=1×2×3×4×5=120 [factorial five is one times two times three times four times five equals one hundred and twenty]

|…| absolute value of(nilai absolute dari)

|5|=5 and |-5|=5 [absolute value of five is five, and absolute value of minus five is five]

|| is parallel to(parallel dengan)

A||B [A is parallel to B]

Perpendicular to(tegak lurus dengan)

AB   [A is perpendicular to B]

≈ is approximately equal to(kira-kira sama dengan)

√2≈1.41    [square root  two is approximately equal to one point four one]

pi ≈ 3.14159  [pi is approximately equal to three point one, four]

≡ is defined as(didefinisikan)

(a+b)2≡a2+2ab+b2  [a plus b all squared is defined as a squared plus two ab plus b squared]

X2 x squared(kuadrat)

(x/y)2      [x over  y all squared](x + y)2    [x plus y all squared]a2 + b2 = c2  [a squared plus b squared equals c square]

Ab a to the b(pangkat)

75 [seven to the fifth power], [seven to the fifth]23 [two cubed]

(x + y)n The quantity(jumlah)

y = (x - 2)(x+1)  [y equals the quantity x minus two (pause) all raised to the quantity x plus one]f(x) = (7 + y) ½    [ f of x equals the quantity seven plus y raised to the one over y power]

belongs to, is an element (or a member) of(elemen dari)

  [x belongs to A], [x is an element (or a member) of A]

does not belong to,is not an element of(bukan elemen dari)

  [x does not belong to A], [x is not an element of A]

is contained in,is a subset of(bagian dari)

[A is contained in B ], [A is a subset of B]

Cap, meet,   [A cap B], [A meet B], [A

Mathematical Symbols

Compiled by Nofvia De Vega, M.Pdintersection(potongan)

intersection B]

Cup, join,  union(gabungan)

[A cup B],  [A join B], [A union B]

Implies(menunjukkan)

P q [p implies q], [if p, then q]

Equivalent(ekwivalen dengan)

p q [p if and only if q], [p is equivalent to q], [p and q are equivalent]

The summation of(jumah) [the sum from i equals one to n ai ],

[the sum as i runs from 1 to n of the ai]vector

  [vector OA]

the length of the segment(panjang segmen)

     [the length of the segment OA]

A-1 Inverse, the inverse of(invesi)

A-1 [A inverse], [the inverse of A]f —1 (x) [f inverse of x]

f(x) function .. of..(fungsi)

Fx, f of x,  the function f of x

Angle(sudut)

L ABC = L DEF  [angle ABC equals angle DEF]

integral (integral [dari]) [integral from a to b (of) f(s) ds]

log Logarithm(logaritma)

log(x) [logarithm of x], loga x [logarithm in base a of x]log2 9 [log base two of nine], [logarithm base two of nine], [log nine base two]

Choose(pilih)

[five choose two]

[a,b] [a,b]  [the closed interval from a to b]Sin Sine

(sinus)(sin x)2 [sine of x (pause) quantity squared], [sine of x all squared]sin(x2) sine of x squaredsin2 x sine squared of x