Assessment types and tasks

Assessment means judging learners’ performance by collecting information about it.

Assessment tasks are the methods we use for assessing learners.

We can assess students formally or informally.

Informal assessment

We observe learners to see how well they are doing something and then we give them comments on their performance.

Formal assessment
When we assess learners through tests or exams and give their work a mark or a grade.


Diagnostic Test
At the beginning of a course, we give our students a test to find out what they know and don’t know. This information can help us decide what to teach and which learners need help.


Placement Test
When the school or teacher wants to know at what level the learners are and decide what level of class they should go to.


Formative Assessment
We assess our students when we want to know how well they are doing after teaching part of a course.


Progress Test
When the formative assessment is done through a test, it is called progress test.


Proficiency Test
When students want to see how good they are at a language.
The contents of this kind of test are not based on a course program or syllabus.


Achievement Test
When teachers assess the whole content of a course.

Self Assessment

Auto-evaluation

Peer Assessment


Learners assess one another, usually using checklists to guide them.

Self Assessment and Peer Assessment help learners understand their language use and performance better and become more autonomous.

Portfolio Assessment
Collection of learners’ work during a course

Objective Test
Assessment tasks which answers are either right or wrong.

Subjective Test
Assessments that consider many different things. The mark the teacher gives depends on their judgement.

• Assessment Tasks:
  Gap fill (They test accuracy)
  Multiple choice questions
  True/False questions
  Ordering
  Correcting mistakes
  Interviews
  Conversations (They test communication skills)
  Role-plays
  Writing letters Writing compositions
  Dictation
  Projects
  Portfolio
  
  

Practice activities and tasks for language and skills development

Activities and tasks designed to give learners opportunities to practice and extend their use of language.

Practice activities differ in several ways:

What Skill or sub skill do they focus on?
The aims of the activity and their Interaction pattern…
What do they focus on? Accuracy or communication
Controlled practice or freer practice?

This influences on the Type of
Activity the teacher chooses.



Lessons usually consist on a series of linked activities. Here are two ways in which you can link activities in your lesson:
PPP
Presentation




Controlled Practice
Freer Practice
Discussion


Focus on form
The purpose of practice activities is to go from verbalization to autonomy.

Verbalization
Teacher describes and demonstrates the skilled behavior to be learned; learners perceive and understand.
Automatization
Teacher suggests exercises; learners practice skill in order to acquire facility; teacher monitors.
Autonomy
Learners continue to use skill on their own, becoming more proficient and creative.

Presentation techniques and introductory activities

Presentation techniques are ways used by the teacher to present (introduce to learners for the first time) new language such as vocabulary, grammatical structures and pronunciation.
n Introductory activities are those used by teacher to introduce a lesson or teaching topic.


PPP: Presentation, Practice and Production
It is possible to present new language after learners have met it in a reading or listening text which is first used for comprehension.

TBL: Task-based Learning

PPP and TBL are not the only ways of presenting new language:

It is possible to present new language after learners have met it in a reading or listening text which is first used for comprehension.

Another possibility is to hold a discussion on a topic and introduce new language in the context of the discussion.

Another one is to give learners a task that requires them to use new language, then after the task, present the new language to them and then give them another task to practice the new language (Test-teach-test).

In both PPP and TBL new language items are presented in a meaningful context.

A PPP approach to presenting new language gives students an opportunity to practice language in a safe learning environment where it is difficult to make mistakes. It can therefore be a confidence-building approach for students. Students may be learning items they are not interested in or ready to learn and gives them few opportunities to use the language for communication.

We also have to consider WARM-UP activities and LEAD-IN activities.
Warmers make the students feel comfortable and ready for the lesson.

The TBL approach allows students to find new language when they want to or when they need it and to use language experimentally and creatively for real communication. This approach puts students in a situation which is quite similar to the one in which children learn their first language.

Some may find this approach exciting and challenging, others may seek for more guidance and structure.

Lead-ins introduce the topic of the lesson and main language points needed by the learners to complete the main tasks of the lesson.

Learner needs

Various kinds of needs influence learning

o Personal needs
o Learning needs
o Future professional needs


Meeting these learner needs is part of being a good teacher.
Personal needs include:

o Age
o Gender
o Cultural background
o Interests
o Educational background
o Motivation




Learning needs include:

o Learning styles
o Past language learning experience
o Learning gap (gap between present level and the target level of language proficiency)
o Learning goals and expectations for the course
o Learner autonomy
o Availability of Time



Professional needs include:

o Language requirements for employment, training or education.

Differences between L1 and L2

Study page 74
Another big difference between L1 and L2 learning is that L1 learning is nearly always fully successful, while L2 learning varies a lot in how successful it is.

The role of error

What is an error? …happens when students try to speak beyond the level of language they have studied.
What is a slip? …is the result of tireness, worry other temporary emotions or circumstances.
What is interference?... students use lexis, structures, sound patterns from their own language.
What is developmental error?... errors similar made of very young children learning their firs language… e.g. (goed / went)
What is overgeneralization? ... students apply one rule to another on
What is inter-language? ... the student´s own version of the language they are learning.
What are fossilised errors? …errors which a learner does not stop making
and which last a long time, even for ever.

From discussion in class:

When is correction helpful?
How can we help learners to develop their inter-language?
What are fossilized errors?
Mention some ways of helping learners get beyond their errors
When is a good time to correct learners?
Which errors are more important to be corrected?
How are errors useful for the teacher?

Exposure and focus on form

Exposure
Hearing and/or reading it all around us without studying it.

Ways in which we learn a foreign language:

1. Acquiring the language (pick it up)
To learn a language, we need exposure to lots examples of it.
We learn from the language in our surroundings. Acquisition takes place over a period of time, we listen to and read items of language for a long time before we begin to use them (silent period).

2. Interaction
We need language to express ourselves and make our meanings clear to other people, and to understand them.

3. Focus on form
We need to pay attention to language, e.g. by identifying, working with and practicing the language needed to communicate.

We need to remember that
Some learners may like to learn and/or are used to learning in particular ways.

Important concepts
To acquire language, learners should hear and read a wide variety of language at the right level for them.

Learners need time to acquire language.

Learners need opportunities to focus on forms of language.

Motivation

Motivation is the thoughts and feelings we have which make us want to do something, continue to want to do it and turn our wishes into action.

Integrative motivation
The desire to identify with and integrate into the target-language culture.

Instrumental motivation
The wish to learn the language for purposes of study or career promotion.

Intrinsic motivation
The urge to engage in the learning activity for its own sake.

Extrinsic motivation
Motivation that is derived from external incentives.

Situational motivation
The context of learning (classroom, total environment, etc.)

Task motivation
The way the learner approaches the specific task in hand.

The importance of motivation
Various studies have found that motivation is very strongly related to achievement in language learning.

To encourage a greater motivation in learners:

Set a personal example with your own behaviour (be motivated as a teacher yourself)
Create a relaxed atmosphere in the classroom.
Present tasks in an interesting way which makes the tasks seem achievable to the learners.
Develop a good relationship with the learners.
Increase the learners’ self confidence about language learning (help learners feel they can be good at learning the language)
Make the language classes interesting.
Promote learner autonomy.
Personalize the learning process (make the course feel relevant to the learners’ lives).
Increase the learners’ awareness of their goals (what they want to achieve).
Familiarize learners with the target language culture.



Factors influencing motivation:

Usefulness of knowing the language (finding jobs)
Interest in the target language culture.
Feeling good about learning the language.
Encouragement and support from others.

Speaking

Speaking is a productive skill.
It involves using speech to express meanings to other people.
Two-way communication that involves using language and body language to keep our listener involved.

Interactive Strategies

Making eye contact
Using facial expressions
Asking check questions
Clarifying your meaning
Confirming understanding

Fluency: It is speaking at normal speed, without hesitation, repetition or self-correction, and with smooth use of connected speech.

Accuracy: It is the use of correct forms of grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation.

Reading Aloud: Can be used for pronunciation separately from the content of speech.

Conversational Exchanges: Is where students are given a particular situation and instructed to respond in a certain way.

Speaking Using Visual Material: Can control the vocabulary and the grammatical structures required Oral Interviews: Are oral situations in which the teacher and student carry on a conversation

Listening

Listening is one of the four skills. It is a receptive skill. It involves making sense of the meaningful (having meaning) sounds of language.

Understanding Listening

Understand different speeds of speech and accents.
Use the context.
Use our knowledge of the world.
Understanding different text types ( a song, a speech..)
Use different sub skills.

Listening sub-skills

Listening for gist.
Listening for specific information.
Listening for detail.
Extensive listening.
Listening to see what attitude the speaker is expressing.

Important Concepts

Understanding and showing you have understood are not the same thing. So, comprehension activities should be in easier language than the language in the listening text.
Children (and everybody) learn well from listening to stories they find interesting.
We can develop learner's listening skills by focusing regularly on particular aspects of listening.

Writing

Writing is one of the four language skills.
It is a productive skill.
Writing involves communicating a message.

We need a message and someone to communicate it to.
We need to be able to form letters and words, and to join these together to make words, sentences or a series of sentences that link together to communicate that message.

Writing for accuracy
Spell correctly
Form letters correctly
Write legibly
Punctuate correctly
Use correct layouts
Choose the right vocabulary
Use grammar correctly
Join sentences correctly
Use paragraphs correctly.

Writing for communication (fluency)
Have enough ideas.
Organize them.
Express them in an appropriate style.

Important concepts
When we teach writing we may need to focus on both accuracy and on building up and communicating a message.
By encouraging learners to use the writing process in the classroom we help them to be creative and to develop their message.

Reading

Reading is one of the four skills. It is a receptive skill. It involves responding to a text, rather than producing it. Reading involves making sense of a text.

Understanding a text
Understand the language at word level.
Understanding the language at sentence level.
Understanding the language at whole-text level.
Connect the information to our knowledge of the world.

Coherence
Our knowledge of the world to see the connection between the sentences.

Cohesion
The grammatical link between the sentences.



Reading sub skills

Scanning: Reading for specific information.
Reading for gist or skimming: Reading quickly through a text to get a general idea of what it is about
Reading for detail: Getting the meaning out of every word.
Extensive reading: Reading long pieces of text.
Intensive reading: The aim of these activities is to make learners more aware of how language is used.
Important concepts
Giving learners lots of opportunities for extensive reading, in or out of class, helps them to develop their fluency in reading.
We need to choose the right text for our learners. They should be interesting and be at the right level of difficulty.

The activities often follow this pattern:


Introductory activities

Main activities

Post activities

Functions

Functions
What is a function? A function is a reason why we communicate. Every time we speak or write, we do so for a
purpose or function.

Examples: Apologizing, Advising, Thanking, Greeting, Agreeing, Interrupting, Clarifying, Disagreeing, Inviting, Refusing, Expressing preferences.

Exponent:
The language we use to express a function is called EXPONENT.
Exponent and context:
One exponent can express several different functions because its function depends on the context.

Appropriacy:
Level of formality that suits a situation.



Important concepts

Combining functions and grammar helps to give grammar a meaning for learners and helps them to learn functions with grammatical structures that they can use in other contexts.

A functional approach to teaching language helps teachers find real-world contexts in which to present and practice grammar, and helps learners to see the real-world uses of the grammar they learn.

Phonology

Phonology
Phonology is the study of the sound features used in a language to communicate meaning. In English these features include phonemes, word stress, sentence stress and intonation.

Phoneme
A phoneme is the smallest unit of sound that has meaning in a language. For example, the s in books in English shows that something is plural, so the sound /s/ has meaning.

Phonemic symbol
The phoneme of a language can be represented by phonemic symbols.
Each phonemic symbol represents only one phoneme (unlike the letters of the alphabet).
Phonemic symbols help the reader know exactly what the correct pronunciation is.
There are several phonemic scripts and some small differences in the symbol they use. TKT uses symbols from the International Phonemic Alphabet (IPA).

Word stress
Part of the word which we say with greater energy.
In dictionary entries it can be shown as ´ or _ or °
We pronounce the other syllables with less energy, especially the unstressed or weak syllables, whose vowels get shortened or sometimes even disappear, e.g. the last sound in important.

Sentence stress
Stress also influences how sentences and incomplete sentences are pronounced.
We say different parts of the sentence with more or less stress.
One word in the sentence has main stress (the word which the speaker thinks is the most important to the meaning of the sentence).

Connected speech
Spoken language in which all the words join to make a connected stream of sounds.

Rhythm
It refers to the pattern of stress of speech.
English rhythm is stress timing: Regular pauses, and between the pauses we pack as many words as we can. Spanish rhythm is syllable timing: Each syllable is stressed.


Intonation
Movement of the level of the voice, i.e. the tune of a sentence or a group of words.
We use intonation to express emotions and attitudes.
To emphasize or make less important particular things we are saying.
To signal to others the function of what we are saying.
To show whether we are asking a question or making a statement.
Intonation is the music of Language.
It is the oral equivalent of written pronunciation.
It has a definite effect on meaning and gives us information on the speaker's attitude.

Minimal pair
Words distinguished by only one phoneme, e.g. thing and think, chip and ship


Important concepts:
Learners of English need to be able to understand a wide variety of accents, as English becomes more and more a global language.
As pronunciation communicates so much of our meaning, producing sounds in a way that can be widely understood is extremely important.

Lexis

Lexis

Lexis is individual words or sets of words, i.e. vocabulary items, that have a specific meaning.

Meaning: Vocabulary items have different kinds of meaning

Denotation: The meaning that describes the thing or idea behind the vocabulary item,

e.g.
TREE- A large plant with wooden trunk, branches and leaves.


Figurative meaning: We speak, for example, of the tree of life or family tree. This imaginative meaning comes from, but is different from, denotation.

Context: There is also the meaning that the vocabulary item has in the context (situation) in which it is used.

Prefixes and Suffixes/ Compound words/Collocations:

The meaning of some vocabulary items is created by adding prefixes or suffixes to base words: nationality, unprofessional…..
Or by making compound words (two or more words together that have meaning as a set: telephone number, bookshop)
Or by collocations (words that often occur together, e.g. to take a holiday, heavy rain)

Synonyms: Words with the same or similar meaning.

Antonyms: Words with opposite meaning.

Lexical Sets: Groups of words that belong to the same topic area: members of the family, types of food.

Grammar

Grammar:

Grammar describes how we combine, organize and change words and parts of words to make meaning.

We use rules for this description.

Sentence: A group of words, usually including a subject and a verb, that express a statement, question, or instruction

· Clause: A group of words which contain a subject and a finite verb.

· Phrase: A phrase does not contain a finite verb and does not have a subject-predicate structure.

· Word: The smallest of the Linguistic Units

· Morpheme: The smallest meaningful unit in a language.



Grammar also describes how words are formed. English uses prefixes and suffixes to create new words. They are added to base words to make new grammatical units such as tenses, parts of verbs, the plural of nouns, possessives.

Important Concepts

Grammar rules describe the way that language works, but language changes over time, so grammar rules are not fixed.

Teachers need to keep up to date with what parts of the language are changing and how

Grammar rules traditionally describe written language rather than spoken language.

Learning some grammatical rules and terms makes language learning easier for some learners. Other learners – e.g. young children- may not find them useful at all.

Just learning grammatical rules and structures doesn’t give learners enough help with learning how to communicate.