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School-based Assessment (SBA). = S hould B e A bandoned ? S chools/ S tudents B ecome A nnoyed. or S hould continue to B e A pplied. The answer lies in. HOW we prepare our students HOW we support our students. Strategies to support students in CMI schools to cope with SBA.
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School-based Assessment (SBA) =Should Be Abandoned ? Schools/Students Become Annoyed or Should continue to Be Applied
The answer lies in • HOW we prepare our students • HOW we support our students
Strategies to support students in CMI schools to cope with SBA • In daily English lessons • The ways we conduct the assessment
Background of My School • Band 2 CMI in Kwun Tong • Over 35 years • Students – lack the exposure to English • So SBA is an opportunity if it is implemented with enough support to Ss
SBA Coordinator Main Duties: 1. Select texts for SBA 2. Develop SBA tasks and plan assessment schedule 3. Coordinate and standardise the assessment process
4. Conduct within-school standardization meetings and attend the inter-school ones 5. Coordinate the reporting of marks … Taken from HKEAA (2006). SBA Assessment Handbook 2008 6. Help to integrate the ideas of SBA into the curriculum (both junior forms and the HKCEE classes)
The journey with our S.4 students -Our English lessons
Sep - Nov Two periods are assigned to the NET for preparing students for the assessments (mainly Group Interaction) • Print-fiction (novels) • Non-print fiction (movies) • Print non-fiction (books other than stories/novels) • Non-print non-fiction (documentary etc) (choose 3)
Nov-Dec:Bridging the gap between S.3 and S.4 A) Pre-assessment • Provide additional short stories for discussion/ *class conferences • Individual Presentation (Practice IP + GI; Real assessment: GI only)
*Class Conference • Students read the short stories and set questions • Discussion will be based on the questions set by Ss Practice: Weekly Newspaper Cutting assignment
B) More emphasis on the reading logs (school-based) (tailor-made) (attachment) C) Simplified version of the rubrics for peer assessment (attachment) – headings only D) Checklists (what to look at when reading a story (attachment)
The journey with our S.4 students -How we conduct SBA
Dec – Mar: Getting ready for the assessment A) Appreciating the text • Print fiction: more time to allow them to enjoy the text • Keep a reading log (attachment) • Class conferences (set their own questions and conduct the discussion on their own) (attachment) • Checklist
Questions set by students Christmas Carol: • If you had a chance to know your future, would you want to know it? Why/Why not? • Which is more important? Love or Money? • If you were hired by Scrooge, could you treat Scrooge nicely, just like Bob?
Dracula • Can vampires be our friends? Superbird - Can human beings live with organisms from other planets?
Emma • If you are required to arrange match-making between your friend and your brother/sister, what will you do?
B) Group Interaction skills • Sample clips from HKEdCity http://www.hkedcity.net/article/project_sba_eng_present/main/ • Stage a mock assessment + video- taping (1 group only) • Mock questions for practice • Simplified version of the rubrics (attachment): Peer assessment
C) Procedure of the assessment • Know the groupings in advance but the questions are given 10 mins before • No discussion is allowed in the preparation time
D) Design of the assessment • Questions aim at discussing topics beyond the text level, i.e. not content based issues • Allow them to reflect on their own experience and discover the relevance between the text and their daily life • Graded questions
Christmas Carol: Friends; Mock: If you had no friends or family to celebrate Christmas with you, what would you do? What would you do to change yourself so that your friends and family are happy to be with you?
1)‘If you are going to send a Christmas present to Scrooge, who loves money very much, what will you choose? Why?’ 2) ‘In Hong Kong, a lot of people live like Scrooge. They always think of money but never spend time on other things like family, friends etc. If you had the power, what would you do at Christmas to help those people understand the real meaning of Christmas?’
Dracula: adventure/ fighting against evil power • Your friend likes having adventure. He/She has found a map on the Internet showing him/her the way to an old castle where a vampire lives. He/She is planning to visit the castle and find out more about the mysterious creature. What are the things that you will suggest him/her to bring for the trip? Why? • You see Dracula at the arrival hall of Chek Lap Kok airport. He is planning to move and live permanently in Hong Kong. How would you persuade him not to stay here?
Bend it like Beckham: about career choice; If your parents want you to take up jobs like lawyer, doctor or accountant, which you don’t like when you finish education, how would you persuade/ask them to let you choose your own career?
Animal Games: about what talents they would like to have • At night, if you lost your way in a forest and you could choose an animal to help you go home, which one would you choose? Why? • (Attached)
Absentees/New students • Supplementary exams • IP (different questions)
Conclusion • Read/Watch more (NET’s lessons, pre-SBA practice, SBA etc) • Think more (Reading logbooks, Ss set questions, class conference etc) • Practise more (pre-SBA practice; Ss’ own practice) • Talk more (practice, peer-feedback, class conference)
One step forward SBA coordinator’s duties Not only • to integrate the ideas of SBA into daily lessons • newspaper cutting assignment—ask them to ask critical questions • more GI and IP practice
But also • Long term support • to integrate the ideas of SBA into the Junior Form Curriculum • teaching of the reader encourage authentic tasks and discussion of high-order questions • use of simplified rubrics
The End Thank you very much!
Introduction Title: • The impact of English language School-based Assessment on the language development of 4 Secondary Four students: a case study approach exploring students’ perspectives.
General aim of the study • To explore the impact of the English language school-based assessment (SBA) on the language development of a group of Form Four students in its initial year of formal implementation.
Duration • The 2007-08 academic year
Research design • Case studies of two girls and two boys from the same Secondary Four class at a Band 1 EMI school in the New Territories in Hong Kong.
Research methodology • semi-structured interviews at three stages during the year: initially just as the students begin class work on SBA (late October-early November), at a mid-year point (Early-mid April) and at a final stage after their formal SBA assessment for Form Four (May/June 2008).
Research methodology • classroom observations of participants’ language use and interaction in group discussions during oral pair/group work activities • filming of group interactions at a number of stages leading up to and including the assessment chosen for final SBA grading. • students’ progressive language self-assessments (*SBA folder)
Data analysis aims • To present a descriptive/analytical account of the case study participants language use • To document /analyse possible occasions of language development in/ through social interaction in group discussion • To identify links/ disparities between Ss views of the SBA as a language learning opportunity with evidence from data
Research Questions: Main research focus question: RQ1. Can the conditions and context of SBA assessment enhance oral language development? *Language development defined as • improvement in communicative competence • improved accuracy, fluency and complexity.
Further exploratory questions: RQ2. To what extent does social interaction in SBA group discussions enhance students’ spoken language development?
Further exploratory questions: RQ3. Difference in language ability between individuals • affect language performance positively? (ie: scaffolding/ ZPD) • Negatively? Re: interpersonal dynamics/ style of interaction • too wide a gap b/w language abilities to allow ‘safe’ participation by all
Further exploratory questions: RQ4. To what extent does self/peer evaluation of language needs lead to improvement in language use?
To frame data analysis of filmed excerpts: SBA (HKEAA, 2007) Short term goals ‘may’ include- • Improve stress/intonation/pronunciation, extend vocabulary • Develop self-assessment skills • Enhance social/affective skills • Deepen knowledge/insights into emotions/behaviour
Long term aim of SBA is- • To improve oral proficiency through discussion and development of learners’ self-awareness of language needs These aims- • presume that discussion can lead to improved oral proficiency • presume that learners’ self-awareness of language needs can contribute to oral proficiency
Excerpts from filmed group discussions • NOTE: Written consent has been obtained from all students (and their parents) participating in the following filmed discussions for these excerpts to be viewed at HKU as part of a thesis research paper.
Show 1st excerpt (26/011/07) • Focus of data analysis: • To observe what each student can do with language under those conditions/ in that discussion • To observe the dynamic between interlocutors- affective issues • To observe how they approach the topic question/ construct their discussion
Show 2nd excerpt (15/04/08- 5 months later…) 2 short segments - Ss in self-selected SBA groups What themes/ patterns are evident? Is there any evidence of change/improvement in Ss language use? • Fluency • Accuracy • Turn-taking • Vocabulary range • Pronunciation/ stress • Complexity of language patterns • Depth/ extension of topic content
Case study Ss perspectives’ (2nd semi-structured interview- 21/04/08) • on whether SBA has helped their language development so far…
G1 ‘ I can feel some..some change..er..more relaxed..easily to hear .. think what to say..’ • G2 ‘ Maybe 15% improvement I think. SBA gives us some different topics to talk about…but I can’t think about grammar and meaning when we talk fast…just what to say…we can still get the meaning even we don’t use perfect grammar, you know?’
B1 ‘Difficult for me ..er …because I feel shy ..need time to ..warm up to talk…yes ..I like to talk with my friends ..it’s more comfortable and I can think what I …my ideas ..can come out…they finish the sentence for me …that’s good’
B2 ‘I think about 15% improvement for me – is it only SBA …I can’t say.. mm ..but having lots of chances to talk and new vocabulary …seems to stay in here (points to head). It’s more interesting than just learning from books ..we help each other when we don’t know how to say…maybe more real…like real conversation.’