The Alternatives in Language Assessment
- 1. THE ALTERNATIVES IN LANGUAGE ASSESSMENT Article by James D Brown and Thom Hudson Presentation by Alex Thomas
- 2. ALTERNATIVE ASSESSMENTS Checklists Peer Assessments Journals Logs Blogs Audio Tapes Videos Teacher Observation Portfolios Self-Assessment Conferences Diaries
- 3. ALTERNATIVE ASSESSMENTS Require problem solving and higher level thinking Use real-world contexts or simulations Encourage public disclosure of standards and criteria Require students to perform, create, produce or do something Multicultural sensitive when properly administered
- 4. IN LANGUAGE TESTING New Innovative Types of Tests: * Cloze Tests, c-tests, cloze elides, dictations, reduced- forms dictations, oral proficiency interviews, role-play tests, group tests, portfolios, conferences, diaries and self-assessments. We should view it as Alternatives in Assessment All different types of tests are important to keep in mind because they all have their own strengths and weaknesses
- 5. THREE BASIC ASSESSMENT TYPES 1. Selected Response – True/False, Matching, Multiple Choice 2. Constructed Response – Fill in, short-answer, performance assessments 3. Personal-Response – conference, portfolio, and self and peer assessments
- 6. SELECTED -RESPONSE ASSESSMENTS Students do not create language here Most appropriate for measuring reading and listening skills Quick to administer and score Disadvantages- Maybe be difficult for the test writer to construct and it doesn’t require the test taker to use any productive language.
- 7. CONSTRUCTED -RESPONSE ASSESSMENTS Most appropriate for measuring speaking and writing skills Guessing Factor is lessened If short answer questions are not carefully made, students may produce a variety of different responses
- 8. PERSONAL -RESPONSE ASSESSMENTS Requires students to produce language and responses will all be different Personal and individualized assessment Can assess learning processes throughout the term of instruction Conferences can be with teacher one on one. Students can reflect on learning processes and skills. Disadvantage- very time consuming Portfolios help motivate. Interesting and cause collaboration. Disadvantages- how to grade portfolios and time consuming.
- 9. WASHBACK “Washback is the effect of testing and assessment on the language teaching curriculum that is related to it. It is also called backwash, test impact, measurement-driven instruction, curriculum alignment, and test feedback.” (667)
- 10. WASHBACK A negative Washback- if the assessment procedures in a curriculum do not correspond to a curriculum’s goals and objectives A positive Washback- when the assessment procedures correspond to the course goals and objectives.
- 11. CONCLUSION Many different types of assessments, all with advantages and disadvantages We should view all types of assessments as alternatives and choose them wisely Giving students feedback is very important
- 12. QUESTIONS What is one example of an alternative in assessment that you have seen or administered that worked really well in a classroom? What made it so successful? What are your thoughts on Selected Response assessments when it comes to language learning?