ELT Testing and Assessment

1. ELT Testing and Assessment Hue College of Foreign Languages 29 September – 8 October 7:30 am – 11:15 am Instructor: Ms. Toni hull Th.in.hue@gmail.com Cell phone: 0123 592 42 33

2. Course Objectives: By the end of this course, students should: • comprehend, feel comfortable with, and be able to put to use the terminology and fundamental concepts of language testing, • be aware of various test formats in order to select the items, tasks, and test types that are appropriate for a given situation, • be able to construct tests for the assessment of linguistic competence (grammar and vocabulary) and language skills (reading, writing, speaking, and listening), • understand language proficiency testing and have an awareness of some of the standardized tests for assessment of proficiency and program placement, • be able to use alternative forms of assessment in their classroom, in addition to (or in place of) traditional achievement tests.

3. Teaching and Learning Strategy • Lectures will present overviews of key concepts in the field • Seminar/workshop discussion will relate these to a number of directed readings, from which students will develop their own practical approaches.

4. Course Evaluation • Attendance and in-class participation: 10% • Assignments: 30% • Facilitating one reading discussion 5% • Mid-session test on terminology 10% • Poster presentation 15% • Final exam: 60%

5. Syllabus and Readings:

6. Assignments:

7. Facilitating one reading discussion (5%) • Every day, 3-4 students will be assigned to lead small group discussions on the day’s assigned article reading. • Facilitators should come prepared with discussion questions and a thorough analysis of the reading in order to facilitate discussion. • Minimally, the discussion should answer these questions: Why was this article assigned? What is its relevance in the Vietnamese ELT context? • After small group discussion, the facilitators will report on key discussion points to the full class.

8. Mid-session quiz on terminology (10%) On Monday, 6 October (Session 6), a short quiz will be administered on key terminology and concepts. A review of possible items will be conducted on Friday, October 5.

9. Poster Presentation (15%) Every student will do a Poster Presentation, which will be displayed in class on the final day of the course (Wednesday, October 6). Students will take turns describing the key elements of their presentation and responding to questions from fellow students. The Presentation will be about a test they have designed (it can be a test used prior to this course or a test designed for this presentation).

10. Final Exam: • Exam Date: 17 December 2008 • Content: • Discussing key issues in Testing and Assessment with a focus on practical classroom application • Analyzing different test samples

11. Today’s Class: • Getting to know you • Attitudes to Testing and Assessment • Key concepts and terminology • Discussion

12. Getting to know you: • Name • Is he/she teaching now? • If so, where? • If not, what is he/she doing? • Something personal to help Ms. Hull remember him/her (but not too personal!)

13. Attitudes to Testing and Assessment

14. Assessment: • Assessment: any evaluation of a student’s work • All tests are assessments – but not all assessments are tests

15. Test: • Takes place at identifiable times, under time constraints • Uses prepared administrative procedures • Must be able to be measured and evaluated and reported • A definition: a method of measuring a person’s ability, knowledge, or performance in a given domain • Method • Measure • Individual • Performance • Domain

16. More about non-test Assessment: • Gives feedback to help students increase competence • Is an ongoing process • Informal: e.g. impromptu feedback, marginal comments on drafts • Does not make fixed judgment or record results • Formal: e.g. review of journal writing or student’s portfolio • May result in a recorded score, but it cannot be called a test since it typically encompasses a wide, open domain and takes place over an extended period of time

17. Formative vs. Summative • Formative assessment aims to evaluate students in the process of “forming” their competencies and skills with the goal of helping them to continue that growth process. • Summative assessment aims to measure, or summarize, what a student has grasped, and typically occurs at the end of a course or unit of instruction.

18. Norm-referenced vs. Criterion-Referenced Tests • Norm-referenced: each score interpreted in relation to a mean (average score), median (middle score), standard deviation (extent of variance in scores), and/or percentile rank • Especially Standardized Tests, e.g. TOEFL • Criterion-referenced: designed to give test-takers feedback, on specific course or lesson objectives • Especially classroom based tests

19. A pitch for Formative Assessment • A video about the Formative Assessment Classroom in Secondary Education TASK: Watch and think about ways that the principles discussed are applicable in the ELT classroom.

20. A Brief History of Testing • Hot debate in 1970s and 1980s • Starting point: discrete-point tests • Assumption: language can be broken down into component parts and tests (skills (e.g. reading) and units (e.g. morphology, phonology, discourse) • Oller (1979) argued that language is a unified set of interacting abilities that cannot be separated • Goal should be integrative test: e.g. cloze test and dictation

21. Cloze test – a sample: The recognition that one’s feelings of (1) ____ and unhappiness can coexist much like (2) ____ and hate in a close relationship (3) _____ offer valuable clues on how to (4) ____ a happier life. It suggests, for (5) _____, that changing or avoiding things that (6) _____ you miserable may well make you (7) ____ miserable but probably no happier.

22. The Communicative Language Model Canale & Swain (1980s) and Bachman & Palmer (1990s): • Grammatical or formal competence (knowledge of grammar, lexis, phonology) • Sociolinguistic competence (knowledge of rules of language use, i.e. what is appropriate depending on speakers, settings, topics) • Strategic competence (ability to compensate for imperfect linguistic resources in 2nd language) • Discourse competence (ability to deal with extended use in context)

23. New Goal Communicative Language Testing should correspond to non-test situations (that is, the target criterion or domain of behavior)

24. Moving toward • Performance-Based Assessment • More student centered • Less paper-and pencil / multiple-choice • More productive • More authentic • More open-ended responses • More integrated tasks and procedures

25. New Views on Intelligence • Gardner: Multiple Intelligences: linguistic; logical-mathematical; spatial; musical; bodily-kinesthetic; interpersonal; intrapersonal • Sternberg: recognized creative thinking and manipulative strategies as part of intelligence • Goleman: “EQ” – importance of emotions

26. Traditional Alternative • One-shot, standardized • Timed, multiple choice • Decontextualized • Scores only • Norm-referenced • Focus on “right” answer • Summative • Oriented to product • Non-interactive • Fosters extrinsic motivation • Continuous long-term • Untimed, free-response • Contextualized • Individualized feedback • Criterion-referenced • Open-ended, creative • Formative • Oriented to process • Interactive performance • Fosters intrinsic motivation

27. Computer-Based Testing • Standardized testing • Classroom testing • Self-testing • Practice for test-taking • Some individualization (through CAT)

28. Discussion #1:

29. Discussion #2: Imagine the following scenarios (100 is a perfect score): a. You give a test and everyone scores 90-100. b. You give a test and everyone scores below 50. c. You give a test and the spread is: 25% above 85; 60% 70-84; 15% below 69. Discuss among yourselves: What kind of tests do you think generate these sorts of scores? Is it good or bad? Why?

30. Discussion #3: Your group will be assigned one of Gardner’s seven intelligences. Brainstorm some teaching activities that foster that type of intelligence. Then, brainstorm some assessment. The seven intelligences are: linguistic; logical-mathematical; spatial; musical; bodily-kinesthetic; interpersonal; intrapersonal

31. Techniques/procedures Placement tests Whole class discussion Diagnostic tests Revising writing Periodic achievement tests Speeches Student oral response to teacher questions after video Journals Short pop quizzes Oral presentations Portfolios Final exams

32. Discussion #5: Review the advantages and disadvantages of both approaches to assessment. Traditional Alternative • One-shot, standardized • Timed, multiple choice • Decontextualized • Scores only • Norm-referenced • Focus on “right” answer • Summative • Oriented to product • Non-interactive • Fosters extrinsic motivation • Continuous long-term • Untimed, free-response • Contextualized • Individualized feedback • Criterion-referenced • Open-ended, creative • Formative • Oriented to process • Interactive performance • Fosters intrinsic motivation

33. Upcoming assignments: • For Tuesday, September 30: • Article:Beghetto, R. (2004) Toward a More Complete Picture of Student Learning: Assessing Students’ Motivational Beliefs at www.italldepends.pbwiki.com • Facilitators: 1. 2. 3. 4. • Textbook: Heaton, Writing English Language Tests, Chapter 10

34. For Wednesday, October 1: • Article: Kwok, L. (2008) Students’ Perceptions of Peer Evaluation and Teachers’ Role in Seminar Discussions at www.italldepends.pbwiki.com • Facilitators: 5. 6. 7. 8. • Textbook: McNamara, Language Testing, Chapters 1, 2, 3