Assessment

AssessmentinLanguageTeachingByWuRongMainContentsofToday1.Assessmentpurposes2.Assessmentmethods3.Assessmentcriteria4.Assessmentprinciples5.TestinginlanguageassessmentI.UnderstandingAssessment1.ThedifferencesbetweentestingandassessmentTesting:Itoftentakesthe‘pencilandpaper’formanditisusuallydoneattheendofalearningperiod,suchasunit-test,mid-term-test,semester-testetc.2.ThedifferencesbetweentestingandassessmentAssessment:itinvolvesthecollectingofinformationorevidenceofalearner’slearningprogressandachievementoveraperiodoftimeforthepurposesofimprovingteachingandlearning.3.AssessmentpurposesAssessmentinELTmeanstodiscoverwhatthelearnersknowandcandoatacertainstageofthelearningprocess.Whatdoyouthinkarethepurposesofassessment?1.Todiscoverlearners’weaknesses2.Todiscoverlearners’achievements3.Toevaluatetheexistingcurriculum4.Tocheckuponteachers’performance5.Tomotivatelearners6.ToprovideanincentiveforlearningWhatdoyouthinkarethepurposesofassessment?7.Toprovidethebasisforfurtherplanningofteaching:whattoteachnext8.Toqualifystudents9.Toprovidethebasisforcorrection10.Toprovidecriteriatoqualifyforhigherlevelstudies11.Toprovidelearnerswithasenseofaccomplishment12.Tofostertheabilitytolearn.II.MethodsforassessmentAssessmentincludestestingbutdefinitelynotonlytesting.Assessmentisoftendividedintosummativeassessmentandformativeassessment.summativeassessment:(终结性评价)Summativeassessmentismainlybasedontesting.Itisdonemostlyattheendofalearningperiodortheendofaschoolyear.Formativeassessment:（形成性评价）Formativeassessmentisbasedoninformationcollectedintheclassroomduringtheteachingprocessesforthepurposesofimprovingteachingandlearning.Therefore,itissometimestermedasclassroomassessmentaswell.Formativeassessment:（形成性评价）Formativeassessmentfocusesontheprocessoflearning,thatisonassessinghowwellstudentsunderstandconcepts,performtasksandmakeprogressduringtheprocessoflearningratherthanonthefinalproductorresultoflearning.Thewaystocollectstudents’learninginformation.1.Teacher’sobservationsTeacher’sobservationsofthelearners’overallperformanceorachievementcanbequiteaccurateandfair.2.Continuousassessment3.Self-assessmentandpeerassessmentThewaystogatherstudents’learninginformation.4.ProjectworkProjectworkrequiresstudentstocompleteasetoftasksdesignedtoexploreacertainideaorconcept.5.Portfolios:(档案袋)Aportfolioisapurposefulcollectionofmaterialsassembledoveraperiodoftimebyalearnertoprovideevidenceofskills,abilitiesandattitudes.Whatcanbeincludedinaportfolio?Oralperformancerecords(self-,peer-,andteacherevaluation)basedonstory-telling,interviewing,dialogueperformance,etc;Collectionofpicturesandartworksreflectingthestudents’learning;Drawings,picturestory,diagramdescriptionbythestudent;Collectionofthestudents’writings;Projectworkanddisplaysdonebythestudentoragroupofstudents…III.AssessmentcriteriaItisagreedthatassessmentmeanstodiscoverhowwelllearnersknowthingsorcandothings.But“well”isoftencomparatively“well”,notabsolutely“well”.Dependingondifferentassessmentpurposesandthestageatwhichtheassessmentismade,assessmentshouldbemadeaccordingtodifferentcriteriaorreferences.1.Criterion-referencedassessment(标准参照)Criterion-referencedlanguageassessmentisbasedonafixedstandardorasetcriterion.Thenationalorlocaleducationalauthority,aschoolorseveralschoolsmayhavethisstandardorcriterion.Afixedstandardisusuallytheultimategoalwhichthestudentsareexpectedtoachieveattheendofthecourse.2.Norm-referencedassessment（常模参照）Norm-referencedassessmentisdesignedtomeasurehowtheperformanceofaparticularstudentorgroupofstudentscompareswiththeperformanceofanotherstudentorgroupofstudentswhosescoresaregivenasthenorm.Astudent’sachievementisthereforeinterpretedwithreferencetotheachievementofotherstudentsorgroupsofstudents,ratherthantoanagreedcriterion.3.Individual-referencedassessment（个体参照）Individual-referencedassessmentisbasedonhowwellthelearnerisperformingrelativetohisorherownpreviousperformance,orrelativetoanestimateofhisorherindividualability.Forexample,ifastudentcouldonlysayafewwordsinEnglishafterafewmonthsofthecourse,andnowafteranothermonth’sstudy,heisabletospeakwithsomefluency(althoughthereissomeinaccuracy),wecansurelysayhehasmadegreatprogress.AdvantagesanddisadvantagesAdvantagesDisadvantagesCriterion–referencedObjectivestandardofabilitylevel;Difficulttodesign,especiallyforclassroomteachers;Norm-referencedMaximizethedistinctionamongindividualsinagivengroup;Difficulttodecidethe“norms”;Individual-referencedMakestudentsawareoftheirprogress;Encouragestudents;Lackofcomparisonamongstudents.IV.AssessmentprinciplesGenerallyspeaking,assessmentshouldbebasedonthefollowingprinciples:•assessauthenticuseoflanguageinreading,writing,speaking,andlistening;•assessliteracyandlanguageinavarietyofcontexts;•assessprocessesaswellasproducts;•analysepatternsoferrorsinlanguageandliteracy;•bebasedonnormaldevelopmentalpatternsandbehaviourinlanguageandliteracyacquisition;•clarifyandusestandardswhenassessingreading,writingandcontentknowledge;•involvestudentsandparentsintheassessmentprocess;•beanongoingpartofeveryday.Itiside