Unit 3: Assessment of Language

3.1  Assessment: Meaning, Definition & Scope

3.2    Formal Assessment: Standardized language tests

3.3  Informal Assessment: Importance, types and documentation

3.4  Teacher Made Test (TMT): Development & implementation

3.5  Basic Language Competence: Concept & use in assessing specific language aspects

 

3.1  Assessment: Meaning, Definition & Scope

 

 

Assessment is a continuous process for understanding individual and programming required services for him. It involves collection and organization of information for specifying and verifying problems and for making decisions about a student.

The decision may include a wide spectrum ranging from screening and identification to the evaluation of teaching plan.

The selection of assessment tools and methods vary depending on the purpose for the assessment is carried out.

Wallace, Larsen, & Elkinson-1992 - Assessment refers to the process of gathering and analyzing information in order to make instructional, administrative, guidance decision for an individuals.

Why Assessment?

Taylor (1981) answers by explaining the stages of assessment

—  Stage 1 To screen and identify those students with potential problems.

—  Stage 2 To determine and evaluate the appropriate teaching programme and strategies for particular student.

—  Stage 3 To determine the current level of functioning and educational needs of a student

Purpose of assessment

Any one who is involved in assessment process should know clearly the purpose for which he is conducting the assessment. Knowing this is very important as it decides the type of assessment tools and means of gathering information for decision making.

For example, if the purpose is only for screening and identification, we use a short screening schedule, for programme planning we use a checklist which helps in assessing the current performance level and selection of content for teaching.

There are many purposes of assessment. They are:

1.     Initial screening and identification,

2.     determination and evaluation of teaching programmes and strategies (pre-referral intervention),

3.     determination of current performance level and educational need,

4.     decisions about classification and programme placement,

5.     development of individual educational programmes (including goals, objectives and evaluation procedures).

6.     evaluation of the effectiveness of the Individualized Educational Programme.

Initial screening and identification

      The students who require special attention or special educational services are initially identified through assessment procedures. The procedures involve either informal procedures such as observation or error analysis or formal procedures such as achievement or intelligence tests. In other words, assessment is used to identify the children who warrant further evaluation.

      Assessment is also used to screen children who are considered to be high risk for developing various problems. These children would not have yet developed deficiencies requiring special education, but they do exhibit certain behaviours that suggest problems in future. Identifying such children allows continuous monitoring of problem areas and designing of stimulation programme if required to prevent the problem.

Assessment for initial identification purpose, therefore is used to identify individual who might need further detailed assessment or who might develop problems in future. Further, it identifies individuals who with some type of immediate remedial programme might be able to cope with the problem.

Evaluation of teaching programme and strategies (pre-referral)
One of the important roles of assessment is to determine appropriate programme and strategies. For this purpose, information is used in four ways.

• First, prior to the referring of a student to special education programme, it can assist regular teacher in determining what to teach and the best method to teach.
• Second, it serves as a method of evaluating the effectiveness of the particular teaching programme or strategy. Many a time a formal referral for special education can be avoided if assessment information is used in this way. That is assessment information can be used to develop and evaluate pre-referral intervention programming. For example, a student X is getting poor marks in subjects as he makes a lot of spelling mistakes. Before making a formal referral to special education services, thinking that the student may be learning disabled, the regular teacher may assess and analyze the work product (spelling errors) of the student and provide a remediation programme. If student shows progress, further referral to special education services can be avoided. 
• Third, in determining appropriate programmes and strategies, assessment can provide pre-referral information to document the need for a formal referral. As explained above, if pre-referral intervention fails to remediate the spelling problem, then there is a need for referring the student for special education programmes.
• Fourth, the pre-referral intervention information can be incorporated into the individual education programme for student who are eligible for and who ultimately receive special education.

Determining of current performance level and educational need
The assessment of current performance level of a student in subjects or skills is essential to state the need for special education programme. This information helps the teacher or examiner.

• to identify subject(s) or skill(s) that need special assistance.
• to identify strengths and weaknesses of students.
• to select appropriate strategies and procedures.

Decision about classification and programme placement: The assessment data is used for classification and placement of students with special needs in appropriate special educational programmes. Theoretically, individuals are classified to indicate similarities and relationships among their educational problems and to provide nomenclature that facilitates communication within the field (Taylor, 1993). Based on assessment information students are classified and suitable placement decisions are made. For example, a 6 year old child who is diagnosed to have mental retardation needs a placement in special education programme which provides education to children with mental retardation.

Development of the Individualized Educational Programme: The most important use of assessment information is to determine the goals and objectives, and strategies to teach children who are identified to have special educational needs. As each individual child s needs are different, we have to plan educational programme that meets the needs. A systematically planned individualized educational programme is a blueprint for teachers to follow.

Evaluation of the effectiveness of the Individualized Educational Programme: Evaluation procedures are also specified in Individualized Educational Programme along with goals, objectives, methods and materials. Using these procedures, the teacher has to periodically monitor the progress made by the student. The monitoring of the programme gives feedback (positive or negative) to both teacher and student. Based on the type of feed back, the teacher either changes her plan or continues the same plan or select a new activity. For example, on periodic evaluation if the child shows improvement, the teacher will continue with her plan, if no improvement is shown she may have to make changes in IEP.

 

Assessment is a continuous process

 

 

 

 

 

3.2    Formal Assessment: Standardized language tests

 

 

Early childhood development is complex. This is a crucial time in children s lives as they are actively learning and cultivating cognitive, language, physical, and social-emotional skills. It is a time when they are being exposed to classroom concepts and discovering how they apply to the real world. As an educator monitoring children s growth and development, a clear assessment tool can provide valuable insight into your lessons and help you determine if your children are making progress towards learning outcomes.

Assessment involves using both formal and informal techniques to monitor children s progress. A combination of assessment methods can help you evaluate children, strategize educational instruction, and implement new ideas. In this article, we discuss formal and informal assessments what they are, their differences, and how to use them both in the classroom.

Formal assessments include multiple data-driven methods that teachers depend on for student evaluation. These types of evaluation often use a standard grading system that allows teachers to score every student objectively. 

Depending on the context, formal assessments can be norm-referenced or criterion-referenced. For example, if you want to know how a learner s score compares to the average class score, then a norm-referenced is your best bet. 

What is a Standardized Test?

A standardized test is any form of test that

      Requires all test takers to answer the same questions, or a selection of questions from common bank of questions

      Scored in a standard or consistent manner, which makes it possible to compare the relative performance of individual students or group of students.

Advantages

1. A ready-made test

2. Administration to large groups can be accomplished

3. It is totally unbiased

Disadvantages

1.     It is not always a true reflection of a student's knowledge

2.     It assumes all students come from a similar learning background

3.     It is a system that can be gamed

4.     It is changes school schedules

5.     It encourages cheating

Characteristics of Standardized Language Test

1. Reliable: Reliability is consistency, dependence, and trust.

2. Valid: The term valid refers to whether or not the test measure what it claims to measure.

3. Practical- Practical test is the test that is developed and administered within the available time and with available resources.

4. Discriminate- All assessment is based on comparison, either between one student and another, or between students as they are now and as they were earlier.

5. Authentic- Authenticity means that the language response that students give in the testis appropriate to the language of communication.

Developing Standardized Tests

 There are primarily about 6 steps in developing a standardized test:

a. Determine the goals

b. Develop the specifications

c. Create and evaluate test items

d. Determine scoring and reporting

e. Continue further development

 

A formal assessment of language refers to a structured and standardized process used to evaluate an individual s language skills, often focusing on comprehension, production, and use of language. This kind of assessment is typically administered by trained professionals and follows specific criteria and procedures. Formal assessments are commonly used in academic settings, clinical environments (such as speech therapy), and in evaluating second-language proficiency.

Types of Formal Language Assessments:

1.     Standardized Language Tests These are widely used tests with a set format and scoring system to assess language proficiency. Some well-known examples are:

o   TOEFL: For English proficiency, especially for non-native speakers applying to universities.

o   IELTS: Another test for English proficiency, used in academic and immigration contexts.

o   DELF/DALF: For French language proficiency.

o   HSK: For Chinese language proficiency.

These tests are generally objective, meaning that they follow strict guidelines for administration and scoring, ensuring that all participants are evaluated in the same manner.

2.     Diagnostic Language Assessments

o   Purpose: These assessments are used to identify specific language deficits or areas of difficulty an individual may have. It might be administered to children or adults who are struggling with language development or those with speech or hearing impairments.

o   Examples: A speech-language pathologist might conduct a diagnostic assessment to evaluate a child s language skills (such as vocabulary, sentence structure, and communication skills).

3.     Language Proficiency Interviews These are formal assessments where a trained evaluator interacts with the test taker through conversation. This is often used for speaking and comprehension assessments in second languages. It may involve:

o   Structured Interviews: A set list of questions is asked to the individual.

o   Unstructured Interviews: The individual has a conversation, and the evaluator assesses fluency, pronunciation, and language ability based on the interaction.

o   Example: The ASLPI (American Sign Language Proficiency Interview) for evaluating sign language proficiency.

4.     Norm-referenced Formal Assessment

A norm-referenced formal assessment evaluates students by comparing individual scores within the same group. In this sense, the student s performance is determined by the overall performance of their colleagues. Here s what we mean. 

Let s say the average score of the class is 70 and a student s score is 35. It means the student scored at the 50th percentile within his or her class. In another class, this score could fall below or above the 50th percentile. 

So, the whole idea is to know if an individual performed better or worse than the average student. Typically, norm-referenced tests use the multiple-choice question format. But in some cases, the instructor includes short open-ended questions. 

Advantages of Norm-referenced Formal Assessments 

1.     These tests allow teachers to compare progress and performance within the same class.

2.     Norm-referenced tests are easy to develop and score.

Disadvantages of Norm-referenced Formal Assessments 

1.     Norm-referenced assessments do not capture the depth of a student s knowledge. Most of the questions are surface-level and do not allow students to elaborate on certain topics.

 

5.     Criterion-referenced Test 

A criterion-referenced test or CRA is a type of assessment that evaluates students without reference to others achievements. Here, the teacher scores students individually, using carefully selected grading criteria or rubrics. Students get high or low scores based on how well they satisfy the grading system. 

Unlike norm-referenced tests, criterion assessments show the extent of a student s mastery of a specific subject matter. Criterion-referenced tests emphasize on individual differences and can provide useful data for pedagogical planning. 

Advantages of Criterion-referenced Tests 

1.     It spells out what students need to do to get outstanding grades and move to the next academic level.

2.     It is a reliable and valid judgment of a student s knowledge.

3.     Criterion-referenced assessments allow instructors to give relevant feedback about the quality of a student s work, and what they need to improve for future assessments.

Disadvantages of Criterion-referenced Evaluation

1.     It is time-consuming and requires a lot of resources and effort.

2.     Criterion-referenced assessments are only as good as the grading system in place. If there are biases in the evaluating standards, the results become invalid and unreliable.

 

A survey is a method of gathering relevant information from a large audience. Typically, it contains questions in different formats including dichotomous questions, open-ended questions, and scales. After collecting responses, the teacher grades them and gives students the correlating scores. 

 

6.     Speech and Language Therapy Assessments

o   Purpose: Administered by a speech-language pathologist (SLP) to diagnose language or speech disorders, such as aphasia, dyslexia, or stuttering.

o   Focus: These assessments may test skills in:

  Speech clarity

  Word recall

  Sentence construction

  Auditory processing

  Receptive (understanding) and expressive (speaking) language

7.     Portfolio-Based Assessment

o   Purpose: This is a more informal, yet structured assessment method, where a collection of a learner s work (writing samples, recordings, projects, etc.) is evaluated over time.

o   Focus: It evaluates progress in language development through a holistic review of the learner s output rather than a single testing event.

 

Standardized language tests for hearing-impaired individuals are designed to assess language proficiency while considering the unique needs of people with hearing loss. These tests might offer accommodations such as sign language interpretation, visual aids, extended time, or written responses to ensure that the test takers can fairly demonstrate their language abilities.

 

 

3.3  Informal Assessment: Importance, types and documentation

 

 

Informal assessment is an intuitive evaluation method, where the teacher assesses students without measuring their performance against some rubric or metric. The structure of informal evaluation methods allows teachers to observe the student s progress at different points in the learning period. 

Informal assessments take different forms in the classroom. For example, a teacher can ask students to fill out an exit survey with closed-ended questions at the end of a lesson. In this survey, the students can highlight any difficulties they experienced in the class and the most important things they learned. 

The instructor can also ask students to take part in group quizzes or brief presentations about a particular subject. Informal assessments allow instructors to provide immediate feedback to students and address any learning gaps in time. 

Formal and Informal Assessment Examples

Formal (standardised) assessment	Informal assessment
Objective measurement: Provides consistency across examiners and settings.	Subjective measurement: Different examiners may judge strengths and difficulties differently.
Provides a standardised set of scores.	Results are usually qualitative in nature e.g. examiner s comments.
Provides a means of interpreting scores e.g. averages, percentile ranks, standard scores.	Scores cannot be compared to a normative sample.
Most standardised assessments can be used a clear measurement of change before and after intervention.	Informal assessment tends to be a less objective measurement of progress over time.
Small improvements in skills may not be reflected in test scores.	Small improvements can be observed and noted.
Some skills and strengths may be missed as they are not included in assessment items.	All skills and strengths can be observed and noted.
Performance may be negatively affected by the stress of formal procedures and time limits.	Assessment tends to be more relaxed and does not have time limits for tasks.
Assessments tend to be carried out in formal settings and artificial scenarios.	Assessment can be carried out in natural (real life) settings and scenarios.
Limited flexibility allowed so assessment cannot be adapted to suit individual s learning style.	Assessment can be adapted to suit the learning style of the individual.
Assessment kits usually provide all the materials required for the assessment.	Materials will need to be gathered for the assessment.
Assessment kits are often expensive.	No or minimal cost for assessment.

 

Finally, both formal and informal assessment methods are critical for effective instruction and student learning. As such, when selecting or designing assessments, begin with understanding and articulating the purposes for the assessment before you consider whether a more or less formal assessment is appropriate.

Informal assessment refers to non-standardized, flexible methods used to evaluate language skills and other abilities in more natural, everyday settings. Unlike formal assessments, which are structured and standardized, informal assessments are often more adaptable and focused on understanding a person's progress, strengths, and areas needing improvement without the pressures of formal testing environments.

Importance of informal assessment:

1. Holistic Understanding of the Learner

• Personalized Feedback: Informal assessments allow educators or therapists to assess a learner s language abilities in a way that is more personalized and contextual. For example, a teacher might observe how a student uses language in different situations (e.g., in class discussions, group projects, or casual conversations) to get a fuller picture of their skills.
• Real-Life Contexts: It allows the evaluator to see how language is used in real-world contexts rather than just in controlled, test-based environments. For instance, a child might demonstrate understanding and communication skills when interacting with peers, even if they perform less well on a formal exam.

2. Flexibility in Assessment

• Adaptability: Informal assessments can be adjusted to meet the unique needs of an individual. For example, if a student struggles with test anxiety, informal assessments like observing their conversations or having them complete creative writing tasks may provide more useful insights into their abilities.
• Variety of Methods: This type of assessment can take many forms, such as observations, conversations, journals, project-based tasks, and portfolio reviews. This variety gives educators flexibility in choosing the method that best suits the individual.

3. Focus on Process, Not Just Results

• Growth-Oriented: Informal assessments are often more focused on assessing the process of learning rather than just the end result. This can help track progress over time and allow educators to adjust their teaching methods as needed.
• Encouraging Development: Informal assessments provide ongoing, formative feedback, allowing learners to improve and refine their language skills without the fear of failure that comes with high-stakes testing.

4. Encouragement of Authentic Learning

• Less Pressure: Informal assessments are typically less stressful for learners, especially in language acquisition. This helps learners feel more comfortable experimenting with the language and making mistakes without the fear of judgment.
• Natural Interaction: By observing learners in natural settings (e.g., during casual conversations or while completing projects), informal assessments better reflect how learners use language in everyday situations, giving a more authentic assessment of their abilities.

5. Supports Differentiated Instruction

• Tailored Teaching: Informal assessments allow teachers to gather information about an individual s learning style, strengths, and weaknesses. This enables them to tailor their instruction to the specific needs of each learner. For example, a student who excels in conversational language but struggles with reading comprehension can be given additional support in reading while continuing to foster their oral skills.
• Immediate Feedback: Teachers or evaluators can provide immediate feedback, which is more motivating for students. Instead of waiting for a formal test to be graded, learners can adjust their language skills right away based on feedback from informal assessments.

6. Encourages Learner Reflection

• Self-Assessment: Informal assessments often involve asking learners to reflect on their own progress, such as through self-assessment forms or journals. This reflection promotes a deeper understanding of their own learning process and encourages them to take responsibility for their improvement.
• Peer Assessment: Learners can also assess their peers, which provides additional insights into their understanding of language use and helps them think critically about their own language development.

7. Identifying Language Development Gaps Early

• Ongoing Monitoring: Informal assessments are typically ongoing, which allows teachers or therapists to identify potential issues with language development early on. Early identification of problems such as difficulties in comprehension, expression, or pronunciation can lead to quicker interventions and targeted support.
• Naturalistic Observations: By observing learners in everyday contexts, informal assessments can identify language challenges that might not appear in a formal test setting (for example, difficulties with nonverbal communication or informal slang).

8. Supporting Diverse Learners

• Inclusive: Informal assessments can be particularly beneficial for learners with diverse needs, such as those with learning disabilities, language delays, or non-traditional learning environments. These assessments can be adapted to ensure that every learner has an opportunity to demonstrate their abilities in a way that feels natural and supportive.
• Cultural Sensitivity: Unlike standardized tests that can sometimes carry cultural biases, informal assessments can be designed to be more culturally sensitive and relevant to the learner s background and experiences.

 

Most common types of informal assessments:

1. Observations

• Description: Teachers or evaluators observe a learner s behavior, language use, and interactions in various contexts (e.g., during classroom activities, group work, or casual conversations).
• Purpose: To assess how a learner uses language in real-world or social situations, such as their fluency, comprehension, non-verbal communication, and social skills.
• Example: A teacher watches how a student participates in a group discussion or how they communicate with peers during collaborative work.

2. Conversations (Informal Interviews)

• Description: Engaging a learner in a conversation on a topic or series of topics to assess their speaking, listening, and comprehension abilities.
• Purpose: To evaluate fluency, vocabulary usage, grammar, and the ability to express ideas clearly and coherently in everyday speech.
• Example: A teacher asks a student to talk about their weekend plans or describe a picture to assess their verbal expression and listening comprehension.

3. Self-Assessment

• Description: Learners evaluate their own progress and abilities, often using tools like checklists, reflection journals, or rating scales.
• Purpose: To encourage learners to reflect on their strengths and areas for improvement and to take responsibility for their own learning.
• Example: A student fills out a checklist about how confident they feel in different language skills (e.g., writing, speaking, listening) and identifies areas where they feel they need more practice.

4. Peer Assessment

• Description: Learners assess their peers language skills, providing feedback on specific aspects such as clarity, structure, and accuracy.
• Purpose: To foster critical thinking and collaborative learning, as well as to help learners refine their language skills through feedback from their peers.
• Example: In a group activity, students listen to each other s oral presentations and provide constructive feedback on their pronunciation and grammar.

5. Portfolios

• Description: A collection of a learner's work over time, such as writing samples, recordings, projects, or drawings. The learner or teacher periodically reviews the portfolio to track progress and growth.
• Purpose: To assess long-term development and provide a holistic view of a learner's skills and achievements.
• Example: A student s portfolio might include drafts of essays, completed assignments, and recorded speeches, with commentary from both the student and the teacher.

6. Checklists and Rating Scales

• Description: A simple tool where teachers or learners mark the presence or absence of specific behaviors, language skills, or tasks.
• Purpose: To keep track of progress in specific skills such as grammar, vocabulary, or pronunciation and help identify areas needing improvement.
• Example: A teacher uses a checklist to evaluate how well a student demonstrates correct verb tenses in speaking or writing tasks.

7. Journals or Diaries

• Description: Learners keep a regular journal or diary, writing about their experiences, thoughts, or language learning process.
• Purpose: To assess writing fluency, vocabulary usage, and the ability to express ideas coherently in writing.
• Example: A learner writes weekly journal entries on different topics, such as their favorite hobbies or personal reflections, and the teacher reviews these entries for language development.

8. Anecdotal Records

• Description: Teachers take notes or record specific incidents or behaviors that highlight a learner s language abilities or progress.
• Purpose: To document significant moments in a learner s development, including successes and challenges, for later analysis.
• Example: A teacher observes a student using new vocabulary correctly in a conversation and records the event as a milestone in the student's learning.

9. Games and Interactive Activities

• Description: Language games (e.g., word puzzles, role-playing activities, or group games) where learners can demonstrate language skills in an engaging, low-pressure setting.
• Purpose: To assess communication skills, problem-solving, and cooperative language use in a fun, dynamic environment.
• Example: A teacher uses a language game, like a word association game or 20 Questions, to assess how well learners understand and produce language.

10. Role-Playing or Simulations

• Description: Learners participate in role-playing activities that mimic real-world situations (e.g., ordering food in a restaurant, going to a job interview) to assess speaking and listening skills.
• Purpose: To evaluate how well learners can use language appropriately in practical situations and to assess both comprehension and production.
• Example: In an ESL classroom, students practice a mock interview where one student plays the role of the interviewer and another plays the job candidate.

11. Project-Based Assessments

• Description: Learners work on long-term projects that involve research, collaboration, and language use across different modes (e.g., speaking, writing, reading).
• Purpose: To assess the application of language skills in real-world tasks and evaluate the integration of various language abilities.
• Example: A group of students creates a presentation on a cultural topic, using language skills in research, writing, and speaking.

12. Peer and Teacher Feedback

• Description: Feedback from peers or teachers on a learner s performance or specific tasks, which can be given orally or in writing.
• Purpose: To provide constructive feedback on specific aspects of language use, such as pronunciation, grammar, or fluency.
• Example: After a student gives a presentation, both the teacher and classmates provide feedback on aspects such as organization, clarity, and use of language.

13. Storytelling or Oral Narratives

• Description: Learners tell stories or provide oral narratives about a specific topic or event, allowing teachers to assess fluency, vocabulary, and storytelling techniques.
• Purpose: To assess speaking skills, narrative structure, and creativity in language use.
• Example: A student narrates a personal experience or tells a short story to demonstrate their ability to organize thoughts and use language effectively.

14. Think-Alouds

• Description: Learners verbalize their thought process while solving a problem or completing a task, such as reading or writing.
• Purpose: To assess the learner s comprehension, metacognitive strategies, and the process they use to understand or produce language.
• Example: A student reads a passage and "thinks aloud" as they describe what they understand or how they interpret the text.

Documentation has the potential to serve many purposes during children s learning experiences. When defining documentation, we must think of it as a process, a systematic act of collecting, interpreting and reflecting on concrete traces of learning (Gambetti). Documentation typically includes samples of the children s work, photographs of the children engaged in the project work, and comments and transcripts of conversations. Documentation supports the teachers in their reflective planning and teaching practices when they use it as a cycle with emergent curriculum and our developmental assessment tools.

High-quality documentation of children s work and ideas contributes in many ways:

1. It Makes The Children s Learning Visible 

By providing evidence of learning in all areas of their development through photographs, transcripts of conversations, and artifacts of their work displayed, we can visibly see the learning process. Learning is purposeful, social, representational, empowering, and emotional.

2. It Enhances Children s Learning

Loris Malaguzzi points out, through documentation children,  become even more curious, interested, and confident as they contemplate the meaning of what they have achieved (Malaguzzi, 1993). By preparing and displaying evidence of the children s learning experiences, the children can re-visit their experience and work which allows their understanding to create more in-depth thinking, questioning, and dialogue. It s a creative process, the mistakes, the rethinking and execution of new plans, and owning the experiences and discoveries that promote critical thinking, problem-solving skills, conceptual development, and a sense of mastery.

3. It Encourages Parent Participation and Collaboration

There are many ways we involve parents to contribute to their children s projects after examining documentation:

1.     By listening to their thoughts and ideas

2.     By helping them to collect materials 

3.     By helping them record their ideas on paper

4.     By making suggestions

5.     By reading with their child about the topic they re interested in.

4. It Respects the Value of a Child s Work

Displaying the children s work, efforts, ideas, and learning in a beautiful and respectful way supports our value in children to be capable, thoughtful, and creative. Taking children s ideas and work seriously conveys to them that their efforts, intentions, and ideas are taken seriously. Children will also take their work seriously which encourages them to work in a responsible, joyful, and dedicated way. 

5. It Helps Teacher Planning and Assessment

Teachers use documentation to continuously plan based on evidence in documentation as work progresses through an emergent curriculum. Teachers use the documentation to dialogue between ideas, thoughts, and new possibilities with children during their work. Planning decisions can be made based on what individuals or groups of children have found interesting, stimulating, or challenging. The documentation provides ongoing reflective planning and evaluation as the teaching team uses all three components documentation, assessment, and curriculum] as a system to extend learning and development. 

 

3.4  Teacher Made Test (TMT): Development & implementation

 

 

A teacher-made test is an assessment created by an instructor to evaluate students' understanding of a particular subject or topic. These tests are designed by the teacher based on the learning objectives, curriculum, and materials covered in the classroom. They can include various types of questions such as multiple-choice, short answer, essay, or problem-solving questions tailored to assess the students' knowledge, comprehension, and critical thinking skills. Teacher-made tests are an essential tool for gauging student progress and informing instructional decisions.

Concept: Teacher made tests are designed by educators to evaluate students' comprehension, knowledge, and skills in a particular subject or topic. These tests can vary in format, including multiple-choice, short answer, essay questions, and more.

CHARACTERISTICS OF TEACHER MADE TEST

1. Aligned with specific learning objectives or standards.

2. Varied in format to assess different types of knowledge and skills.

3. Clear instructions and questions to avoid confusion.

4. Fair and unbiased towards all students.

5. Reliable and valid in measuring what they are intended to measure.

6. Can be tailored to accommodate diverse learning needs and preferences.

TYPE OF TEACHER MADE TEST

Formative Assessments: These tests are conducted during the learning process to monitor student progress and provide feedback for improvement.

Summative Assessments: These tests are administered at the end of a unit or course to evaluate overall student learning and mastery of content.

Diagnostic Assessments: These tests are used to identify students' strengths, weaknesses, and prior knowledge before instruction begins.

Performance Assessments: These tests require students to demonstrate their knowledge and skills through tasks such as projects, presentations, or portfolios.

Teachers Made Test vs Standardized Tests

A teacher is more concerned with the teacher-made tests as she is directly involved in their construction. Moreover, the teacher made tests have an advantage over standardized tests because they can be constructed to measure outcomes directly related to classroom specific objectives and particular class situations. These tests are within the means of every teacher and most economical. The teacher made oral tests are designed to measure the performance of students skills like listening and speaking in language learning. Written tests are designed to test the abilities of students knowledge comprehension and written expression.

Development and Implementation Teacher-Made Tests:

It is a process through which teachers create customized assessments to evaluate students knowledge, skills, and understanding of the material they ve been taught. These tests allow teachers to assess students learning more directly and can be tailored to meet the specific needs of the class, course, or curriculum. Developing effective teacher-made tests is an essential skill for educators as it ensures accurate measurement of student progress and identifies areas that need further attention.

1. Define the Purpose and Objectives: Before developing the test, teachers should determine the purpose of the test. Is it for diagnostic assessment, formative feedback, summative evaluation, or practice? Understanding the purpose will guide the design of the test.

2. Choose the Type of Test

• Objective Tests: These include multiple-choice, true/false, matching, and fill-in-the-blank questions. Objective tests are typically easy to score and can assess a wide range of knowledge quickly.
• Advantages: Easy to grade, can cover a lot of content.
• Disadvantages: May not assess higher-order thinking or deep understanding.
• Subjective Tests: These include essay, short answer, or open-ended questions. These types of tests allow students to demonstrate their ability to organize and express ideas more freely.
• Advantages: Assess higher-order thinking, creativity, and depth of understanding.
• Disadvantages: More time-consuming to grade, subjective grading can vary.
• Performance-Based Assessment: These assess students ability to apply knowledge and skills in real-life or simulated tasks (e.g., project, presentation, role-play).
• Advantages: Measures practical application of skills.
• Disadvantages: More complex and may require extended time for completion and grading.

3. Design Test Items

• Write Clear, Concise Instructions: The instructions should be simple and easy to understand. Avoid jargon or overly complicated language.
• Create Questions That Align with Learning Objectives: Test questions should align with the objectives set in step 1 and assess what students are expected to learn.
• Vary the Difficulty of the Questions: A good test includes a mix of easy, moderate, and difficult questions. This helps to better gauge the full range of student understanding.

Types of Test Items:

• Multiple Choice: Good for assessing factual recall, knowledge of concepts, or recognition.
• True/False: Suitable for testing factual knowledge or simple concepts.
• Fill-in-the-Blank: Useful for testing vocabulary or specific facts.
• Matching: Can test associations between terms and definitions or concepts.
• Short Answer: Helps assess students ability to recall or explain key concepts in their own words.
• Essay: Best for assessing in-depth understanding, critical thinking, and the ability to articulate ideas.
• Performance Tasks: Useful for assessing practical application of skills.

4. Create a Test Blueprint

A test blueprint is a map that outlines how the test will be structured. It helps ensure that the test covers all the important content areas, and it provides a balance between different types of questions and difficulty levels.

• Content Distribution: Break down the topics covered in the test and determine how many questions will be dedicated to each area.
• Question Type Distribution: Decide how many questions will be multiple-choice, short-answer, essay, etc.
• Time Allocation: Estimate how much time students will need to complete the test, considering the number and type of questions.

5. Review and Revise: Ensure all instructions and questions are clear, concise, and free of ambiguity. If a question can be interpreted in multiple ways, revise it to avoid confusion.

6. Grading and Feedback

• Use a Rubric for Subjective Questions: For essay or short-answer questions, create a grading rubric that outlines what constitutes an excellent, good, or poor answer.
• Give Constructive Feedback: Provide feedback that helps students understand what they did well and where they need improvement. Use this feedback to guide future instruction.

Developing teacher-made tests is an important skill that allows teachers to assess their students' understanding and progress. By following a structured process, teachers can create fair, reliable, and valid assessments that provide valuable insights into student learning and inform future teaching practices.

 

3.5  Basic Language Competence: Concept & use in assessing specific language aspects

 

 

Basic Language Competence (BLC) refers to the foundational language skills required for effective communication in everyday situations. It represents an individual s ability to understand, produce, and use language in simple, practical contexts. While the specific components of Basic Language Competence may vary depending on the language or cultural context, it generally includes essential skills that form the basis of more advanced language proficiency.

BLC is often considered the entry level of language proficiency and is typically the starting point for learners, especially in second language acquisition, early childhood education, or communication skills development.

BLC is something we all naturally acquire. It s the ability to understand and use everyday spoken language those casual conversations we have with family, friends, colleagues even with our therapist. Whether you re asking for directions or sharing a joke, these basic language skills come from simple, informal interactions. No formal education is required; just social exposure is enough to pick up the nuances of verbal communication.

In terms of internal language, BLC refers to a person s ability to comprehend and produce spoken language in situations of everyday life, common to all adult native speakers in a given language community.

In terms of external language, BLC refers to frequent lexical items and frequent grammatical structures that is, to lexical items and morpho-syntactic structures that may occur in any communicative situation, common to all adult native speakers, regardless of age, literacy, or educational level.

Let us assume that we computed the raw frequencies of lexical and grammatical elements in a huge corpus of spoken language, truly representative of language, produced in a wide variety of communicative situations by people of different ages and different levels of education and profession. The idea then is that BLC pertains to the ability to fluently process (in listening and speaking) the elements in the steep part of the skewed distribution of raw frequencies, i.e., the elements and constructions that occur frequently in such a corpus.

In psycholinguistic terms, BLC is defined as the largely implicit, unconscious experience-based cognition in the domains of phonetics, prosody, phonology, lexis, morphology, constructions, and syntax, plus the mapping of words, phrases, constructions and patterns onto meaning (semantics) and use (pragmatics).

Importance of Basic Language Competence:

1.     Foundation for Communication:

o   Basic Language Competence is crucial because it serves as the foundation for more advanced language skills. Without a strong grasp of these basic skills, learners struggle to build fluency and comprehension in more complex language use.

2.     Everyday Functionality:

o   Having basic language competence allows individuals to function effectively in everyday life. It enables them to perform essential tasks like navigating public spaces, making appointments, ordering goods or services, and having simple conversations.

3.     Facilitates Language Development:

o   BLC is essential for progressing to higher levels of language proficiency. Once learners master the basics, they can build on that foundation to learn more sophisticated vocabulary, complex grammar, and advanced communicative strategies.

4.     Accessibility for Non-Native Speakers:

o   Basic language competence is especially important for non-native speakers in a new linguistic environment. It helps them navigate daily life and interact with others in socially meaningful ways. For example, someone learning English as a second language needs BLC to manage basic tasks like shopping, talking to neighbors, or attending a doctor s appointment.

5.     Building Confidence:

o   Mastering basic language skills boosts learners' confidence, enabling them to engage in more complex interactions. Gaining competence in essential language skills encourages further learning and reduces anxiety in communication.

 

Basic Language Competence (BLC) can be used as a framework for assessing specific language aspects, especially in the early stages of language learning or in environments where learners need to develop foundational communication skills. BLC helps to break down the language skills into more manageable components for assessment, ensuring that learners build a strong base before advancing to more complex language tasks.

Here s how Basic Language Competence can be applied to assess specific language aspects:

1. Vocabulary (Lexical Competence)

Assessment Focus:

• Receptive Vocabulary: Understanding of basic words and phrases (e.g., objects, actions, adjectives).
• Productive Vocabulary: Ability to use simple, everyday vocabulary in speaking and writing.

How BLC Assesses Vocabulary:

• Word Recognition: Check whether the learner can identify and comprehend common words used in daily life, such as family members, food items, or common verbs.
• Contextual Use: Assess whether learners can use basic vocabulary appropriately in simple sentences (e.g., "I like apples," "She is my sister").
• Vocabulary Expansion: Measure progress by observing if learners are gradually using a wider range of words as their language competence grows.

Examples:

• Observation: A learner is asked to name common objects in the classroom or identify basic colors and shapes.
• Task: The learner could be asked to describe a picture using a list of basic vocabulary.

2. Grammar (Grammatical Competence)

Assessment Focus:

• Basic Sentence Structure: Ability to form simple affirmative, negative, and interrogative sentences.
• Tense Use: Understanding and application of basic verb tenses (present, past, future).
• Articles, Prepositions, Pronouns: Use of essential grammatical elements like "a," "the," "on," "in," "he/she/it," etc.

How BLC Assesses Grammar:

• Sentence Construction: Evaluating whether learners can create simple sentences that follow basic word order (e.g., Subject-Verb-Object).
• Verb Forms: Assessing their ability to conjugate basic verbs correctly in simple tenses.
• Error Patterns: Identifying common grammatical errors such as incorrect word order, verb tense mistakes, or misuse of articles.

Examples:

• Task: Have the learner form simple sentences with subject-verb agreement (e.g., "She eats apples," "I play football").
• Observation: Assessing how well a learner answers questions like "What did you do yesterday?" using the correct past tense.

3. Pronunciation and Intonation

Assessment Focus:

• Pronunciation Accuracy: Correct pronunciation of basic words and sounds.
• Intonation Patterns: Ability to produce natural speech rhythms, stress, and pitch variations.

How BLC Assesses Pronunciation and Intonation:

• Sound Recognition: Evaluating how accurately learners can pronounce vowels, consonants, and common blends or digraphs in the target language.
• Fluency: Assessing whether learners can speak in a way that sounds natural and fluid, without awkward pauses or incorrect stress patterns.
• Tone and Pitch: Observing if learners can produce statements with proper intonation and use rising tones for questions.

Examples:

• Task: Have the learner repeat sentences or read aloud simple texts to evaluate pronunciation.
• Observation: During a casual conversation, assess if the learner's speech flows naturally with appropriate stress on important words (e.g., in She likes to play football, football should be stressed).

4. Listening Comprehension

Assessment Focus:

• Understanding Basic Information: Ability to understand short, clear spoken statements, commands, or questions.
• Following Simple Instructions: Capacity to follow oral directions or information.

How BLC Assesses Listening Comprehension:

• Task-Based Assessment: Give learners basic commands or questions and observe whether they can act on them (e.g., "Point to the door," or "What is your name?").
• Listening for Specific Details: Test their ability to listen for specific information from short, clear audio clips or conversations.
• Response to Questions: Evaluate if learners can respond appropriately to basic questions about familiar topics.

Examples:

• Task: A learner listens to a teacher say, "Please put the book on the table," and follows the instruction.
• Observation: The learner listens to a simple question, such as What is your favorite color? and answers correctly.

5. Speaking (Oral Communication)

Assessment Focus:

• Expressing Basic Needs and Ideas: Ability to communicate simple thoughts and requests.
• Fluency in Short Conversations: Use of simple phrases and questions in everyday interactions.

How BLC Assesses Speaking:

• Basic Conversations: Assessing the learner s ability to maintain a short conversation, introducing themselves, and answering simple questions.
• Pronunciation and Clarity: Evaluating how clearly learners can express basic ideas, even if they make some errors.
• Interaction with Others: Observing how learners respond to questions or prompts in real-time.

Examples:

• Task: Have the learner answer basic questions such as What is your name? Where are you from? and What do you like to do?
• Observation: A learner is asked to describe their daily routine using basic verbs and time expressions.

6. Reading Comprehension

Assessment Focus:

• Understanding Basic Texts: Ability to understand simple written texts such as signs, labels, short stories, or instructions.
• Identifying Key Information: Ability to find specific details or main ideas in basic texts.

How BLC Assesses Reading Comprehension:

• Word Recognition: Testing if learners can recognize and understand common words and phrases in written form.
• Simple Texts: Providing learners with short paragraphs or sentences and asking questions to assess understanding.
• Reading Aloud: Assessing how well learners read basic texts, with attention to pronunciation, fluency, and understanding.

Examples:

• Task: Give a learner a simple passage (e.g., Tom is a student. He goes to school every day. ) and ask them to identify key details like What is Tom s name? or Where does he go?
• Observation: Ask learners to read a short sign (e.g., "No Smoking") and demonstrate understanding by explaining its meaning.

7. Writing (Written Communication)

Assessment Focus:

• Writing Simple Sentences: Ability to write grammatically correct and meaningful sentences.
• Basic Paragraph Writing: Writing short, coherent paragraphs that communicate simple ideas.

How BLC Assesses Writing:

• Sentence Construction: Observing whether learners can create simple, correct sentences with basic punctuation and structure.
• Spelling and Grammar: Evaluating how well learners spell common words and use basic grammatical structures in writing.
• Organization: Checking whether learners can organize their thoughts into simple, understandable paragraphs or short pieces of writing.

Examples:

• Task: Ask learners to write a short description of their family or their favorite activity using basic sentences.
• Observation: Review written work such as a journal entry or a note, checking for coherence and the correct use of basic vocabulary and grammar.

Basic Language Competence (BLC) is essential for assessing the foundational aspects of language learning across reading, writing, speaking, and listening. It provides a clear way to evaluate a learner's ability to understand and use language in real-world situations. By breaking down language competence into manageable components (vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, etc.), BLC helps both learners and educators track progress and address specific language challenges at an early stage. Would you like more detail on specific assessments for one of these areas?