Assessing Grammar

1. Assessing Grammar Christine Alice Stacey Jenny Ann

2. Test Evaluation • Summary Teaching • Evaluation of an Existing Test

3. Five characteristics to measure communicative grammar • The test must provide more context than only a single sentence. • The test taker should understand what the communicative purpose of the task is. • He or she should also know who the intended audience is. • He or she must have to focus on meaning and not form to answer correctly. • Recognize is not sufficient. The test taker must be able “to produce grammatical responses.” By: P.R. Dickins

4. Therefore… • Have the test taker say or write something (5) of discourse length (1) in order to perform some communicative task (2) for a known audience (3), and what is said or written must make sense (4). • Assessing grammar can only be tested as part of a test of writing or speaking?

5. Important Principle: What are we trying to Measure? “English grammar is chiefly a system of syntax that decides the order and patterns in which words are arranged into sentences.”– Close 1982 • Separated but closely related to assessing writing and assessing speaking. • Oral performance • Writing samples • Accuracy and fluency • Count the errors and rate their severity • Focus on Grammar only • ‘Meaning’ is a separated matter • Integrated tests • Discrete point tests

6. Traditional Paper and Pencil Test • NRT: TOEFL • CRT: Classroom tests • Types of Questions: • Complete sentences • Sentence combining • Paragraph editing • Correct topic sentence task • Multiple Choice • Fill in the blank • True/False • Combination

7. Alternative Assessment • Games • Class observation • Online activities • Portfolio

8. Games • Design to restrict the language need • Usually these games are defined by their focus on • The Use of Language • Limited options for communication • Accuracy

9. Split Sentences • Write out some sentences, and then cut each sentence in half. Hand out these pieces to the students, and ask them to find the matching half among the other students. • Students’ abilities in combing sentences • Grammar knowledge to all forms of the sentences

10. If you eat that If you touch the dog If you steal my boyfriend If you go out now If you don’t leave If you don’t book a ticket you’ll be sick it’ll bite you I’ll never speak to you again you’ll get soaked I’ll call the police you’ll be lucky to get a seat Examples

11. Sentences from pictures • Hand out a sheet of pictures. Ask students to come out sentences from the pictures. Or ask students to tell a stories. • Enough grammar knowledge to make sentences by students. • Accuracy

13. Memory Test • Give limited time for students to see the picture. Ask them to describe the picture without seeing it. • Testing students’ ability of making sentences.(enough grammar knowledge) • Accuracy • The transformation of students’ sentences

15. Picture Dictation • A student try to describe the picture to other students who haven’t seen it. • Testing if a student can make sentences which can help him/her communicate well. • Accuracy

17. Strip Story • Make students into groups and assign them a text from a strip story. Ask them to find the order and resolve the problem from the story. • See if students can find the time order from the tenses of the sentences. • Accuracy

19. Miming an action • Ask students to role play in a limited situation. • Through acting, it can test students’ ability of thinking of lines. (which may contains different tenses.) • Accuracy

20. Growing Stories • Story-building activities • Students’ ability of making sentences with different tenses

22. Questionnaires • Turn what have taught in class into a questionnaire. Get students to survey each other. (does not contain fully-written-out questions.) • It can see if students’ totally understand what have learned in class. Also it can see if students’ can use it well.

24. Classroom Observation • Classroom activities • Classroom communication: Elicited dialogues • Written exercise

25. Online Activities • In multimedia teaching times, teachers can use Internet as a way of assessing students’ ability of grammar • On-line quizzes help students to have more chances of practices • On-line tests also provide clear explanation after finishing the quizzes • Students can surf on these grammar website to do practice • Teachers can ask students to do these exercise and to keep record for themselves. Finally report back for one of the reference of assessment

26. Online activity : websites • http://www.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/index.htm • Ex1. Irregular verbs quiz http://www.ccc.commnet.edu/cgi-shl/par2_quiz.pl/irregular_quiz.htm • Grammar Assessment http://www.prenhall.com/grammarassessment/ • Self-study grammar quizzes http://a4esl.org/q/h/grammar.html • ESL Quizzes Center http://www.pacificnet.net/%7Esperling/quiz/grammar

27. Portfolio • Definition:a purposeful collection of student work that tells the viewer about the student • Works should be organized by chronological order and category– teacher can evaluate the child’s achievements • Works including: 1. Traditional paper and pencil tests 2. Classroom observation 3. Online activities 4. Written assignments

28. Written assignments • Give students some assignments to practice at home • Ask students using learned grammar in class to write journal • Term paper throughout one semester including several drafts– we can see student’s progress in grammar.

29. Advantages of portfolio • Why portfolio is the best way to assess? • Strengthening students’ learning • Enhancing the teacher’s role • Improving processes

30. Test Evaluation of An Existing Test • Section 2 of the Computer-Based Test of TOEFL • General Background Information • Title: Section 2 of TOEFL-Structure and Written Expression • Author: Education Testing Service (ETS)

31. Test Evaluation of An Existing Test 3. Purpose of decision : Section 2 measures the ability to recognize language that is appropriate for standard written English.

32. Test Evaluation of An Existing Test 4. Date of Application: a. 1962, the formation of a National Council on the TOEFL b. July 1998 (Most parts of the world) c. October 2000 (Asia, including Taiwan)

33. Practical Orientation • Ease of administration: • Computers needed • Convenience • Price: expensive ($130) • Quality of items: clarity

34. Practical Orientation • Ease of scoring: • Photo score reporting • Computerized scoring (0~30) • Cumulative scoring • Ease of interpretation: transmission speed.

35. Practical Orientation • Test construction: • Computer-adaptive Testing • Complete an incomplete sentence • Identify one unacceptable answer form four underlined words. • Timing: 20-25 questions/ 15-20 minutes (including “pretest questions”) “Description of the Computer-Based TOEFL Test”www.ets.org

36. Test Evaluation of An Existing Test • Model Test

37. Analysis of TOEFL Grammar Test • 8 sentence patterns • Basic Sentence & Compound Sentence • Adjective Clauses • Participial Phrases • Appositive • Noun Clauses • Adverbs Clauses • Prepositional Phrases • Expletives 方有毅 托福文法速成 來欣留學英語中心

38. 15 Answering Techniques Word Form ………....20 % Word Choice ……....14 % Verbs ………………....11 % Parallelism ………......9 % Pronouns ……………...7 % Singular/Plural Nouns …...……...……..6 % Verbal (Infinitives, Gerunds, and Participles) ……..…...6 % Prepositions ……..…..6% Articles ……………………….5 % Comparatives and Superlative sentence……4 % Conjunctions ……………… 4 % Redundancy………………….1 % Negative Words ……………2 % Word Order ………………….4 % Misplaced Modifiers ….…..1 % Total ……………………….100 % 方有毅 托福文法速成 來欣留學英語中心 Analysis of TOEFL Grammar Test

39. Analysis of TOEFL Grammar Test • Reliabilities: describes the tendency of a set of scores to be ordered identically on two or more tests, and it can be estimated by a variety of statistical procedures. “Description of the Computer-Based TOEFL Test”www.ets.org

40. Analysis of TOEFL Grammar Test • Validity • ------pure lead, the lead ore is mined, then melted, and finally refined. (A) Obtaining (B) Being Obtained (C) To obtain (D) It is obtained • Louisa May Alcott is mainly noted for her very popular A B novel, Little Women, whom she published in 1868. C D • Some hangars, buildings used to hold large aircraft, are A very tall that rain occasionally falls from clouds that form B C along the ceilings. (聶群 精修文法 來欣留學英語中心) D

41. Strength: Accurate and objective scores Careful monitoring of test Commitment to international education Expert advisory committees Highly skilled test developers Longstanding reliability and consistency Ongoing test improvements Standardized delivery procedures “Description of the Computer-Based TOEFL Test”www.ets.org Analysis of TOEFL Grammar Test

42. Analysis of TOEFL Grammar Test • Conclusion • No other test in the world is as reliable as a standard for measuring a nonnative speaker’s ability to use English at the university level. “Description of the Computer-Based TOEFL Test”www.ets.org

43. END