Lecture 7

Evaluation and assessment.

Plan:
1. The importance of testing and evaluating pupils’ achievement
2 Testing language skills and language knowledge.
2. Assessment for Learning (AfL)
3. Self-assessment

Assessment and Evaluation do mean the same thing in general terms but their
meanings are differentiated in professional educational settings (teachers, schools,
education authorities, school inspectors, examination boards).
"Assessment" is the process that a teacher/examiner conducts to measure how
much a student/candidate has learned. e.g.The students will be assessed at the end
of the year.
"Evaluation" is the process used to measure how effective a particular approach or
method is to achieve specified ends. eg:The students are using computer-based
learning this term and the teachers will evaluate its effectiveness at the end of the
year.
Assessment is defined as data-gathering strategies, analyses, and reporting
processes that provide information that can be used to determine whether or not
intended outcomes are being achieved. Evaluation uses assessment information to
support decisions on maintaining, changing, or discarding instructional or
programmatic practices. These strategies can inform:
 The nature and extent of learning,
 Facilitate curricular decision making,
 Correspondence between learning and the aims and objectives of teaching, and the
relationship between learning and the environments in which learning takes place.
Properly organized testing of pupils' achievements gives the teacher an
opportunity to get a clear idea of his pupils' progress in foreign language learning.
Analyzing the results of testing, the teacher will see his shortcomings both in meth-
ods and techniques applied and in the progress of each pupil. It allows him to
improve his own work. In this connection P. Oliva writes, "A test measures not
only the student's performance but also the effectiveness of the teacher's instruc-
tion. Tests serve a diagnostic function. They show where students have difficulties.
They provide information which should lead the teacher to modify his instruction."
Testing and evaluating pupils' achievements in language learning is of great
importance. Pupils get used to working systematically at the target language. The
latter ensures favourable conditions for the mastering of the foreign language, that
is, for learning words, phrases, grammatical structures, and developing habits, and
skills in using all these while hearing, speaking, reading, and writing. Thus the
problem of learning is not so much how to get things into the mind (in our case
vocabulary, grammar, etc.), as it is how to get them out again when they are
needed for aural comprehension, speaking, reading, and writing. "The problem is
less one of storage than it is of ready access." 2 Through testing every pupil can
show how he can use what he learns, that is his "ready access" to the knowledge he
receives.
Although tests are used for measuring the achievement of the objectives in
language learning, they fulfill educational functions as well, namely, each test
makes pupils concentrate their attention on certain language material and language
skill and thereby mastering it successfully. Since testing is accompanied by the
evaluation of the achievement of every pupil this stimulates pupils' desire to learn.
Evaluation is an integral part of teaching; it is a process of determining the extent
to which objectives have been achieved.
We must evaluate the new methods of assessment to ensure that they are valid,
reliable, relevant and fair. In teaching languages, teachers often have to measure
students' language abilities, which they achieve by developing tests or quizzes or
through more informal methods. In addition, they often select commercially-
developed tests for use in their classrooms or language programs. In order to feel
confident and comfortable with assessment, this module will present different
methods of assessing language as well as strategies for practice in the classroom.
TESTING LANGUAGE SKILLS , AND LANGUAGE KNOWLEDGE
The teacher tests the pupil's command of the target language, that is, his ability
to use it in its two forms, oral and written. Therefore, the items of testing should
fully correspond to the aims and objectives. They are: (1) aural comprehension, (2)
speaking (monologue and dialogue), (3) reading (oral and silent), (4) writing
(words, sentences, dictations, written reproductions, etc.).
We distinguish regular testing when the teacher administers frequent, short tests to
measure his pupils' achievement and assigns marks for their work at a given lesson
(unit) or a topic; and final testing or examination at the end of the course. The
teacher administers tests in two forms: oral and written.
In our schools oral testing often takes the form of questioning the class or some
individuals. The manner in which each pupil reacts to the teacher's questions
shows his readiness for the lesson and his achievement in learning some particular
material. This often results in assigning marks to several pupils. Since there are
many items of testing as well as pupils in the class the teacher needs special tests,
objective and easy to administer, to measure his pupils' achievement. At present
the following tests are available: teacher-made tests, ready-made tests (for
example, in the Teacher's Book), and standardized tests (made by the Department
of Education). Naturally, teacher-made tests are the best because he knows the
material his pupils have covered better than anyone else, that is why he can
administer a test which will correspond to his pupils' capacities. However, in
administering tests he should always keep in mind the items of testing, that is, the
syllabus requirements for this particular form.
Some possible approaches to testing are described herewith.
The testing of listening comprehension may be administered in two ways
depending on pupils' reaction to the material they hear.
1. A text is presented either by the teacher or on tape. Each pupil is given a set of
pictures (3—4) one of which corresponds to the item that he hears. The pupil
listens attentively to the text and identifies the picture correctly by raising it
(immediate testing) or by putting a mark (a number) in a special place provided for
it (delayed testing).
2. A text is presented, preferably on tape. The class or each pupil is given a definite
task before being invited to listen to the text. Pupils listen to the text and then they
are asked to react to the material according to the given assignments. These may be
answering yes-/no -questions, choosing answers from multiple-choice items on
cards distributed beforehand, etc.
The testing of speaking is the most difficult as the teacher will want to test
pronunciation, intonation, stress, sustained speaking, use of vocabulary and
grammatical structures. The best way to measure achievement in speaking is by
testing each pupil individually. But this is very time-consuming and, although the
teacher does his best to question as many pupils as he possibly can, he fails to
cover all the individuals on a given topic, and as a result this, leading language
skill is often not controlled in any way whatsoever. Instead the teacher tests
knowledge of words, structures; ability to ask and answer questions in written
form; ability to write about a situation or topic suggested. In order to avoid this
following testing technique may be proposed. Each pupil gives his response on
tape. The teacher plays back the tape as he has time and evaluates each pupil's
performance. Contemporary teaching aids make this available.
It has been calculated that it takes a pupil 1—1,5 minutes to make a response
containing 3—4 sentences. The test must be constructed in such a way that the
pupil need not give a lengthy answer but his response must show his ability to
pronounce and intone, use of certain vocabulary and grammatical structures, and
whether his speech is sustained or not. It will not take the teacher more than half an
hour to evaluate the achievement of all his pupils in a given form and get a clear
picture of each individual on a given topic. Regular oral tests will increase pupils'
sense of responsibility and desire to master the spoken language.
The testing of reading deals with comprehension and speed. The former is more
important than the latter. Testing reading may be administered aloud or silently.
Each pupil gets a passage, accompanied by a set of questions on cards which can
 be true-and-false type, multiple-choice, or a type that requires a statement for an
answer, in case of reading aloud the test may be administered in the language
laboratory with each, pupil reading on tape. Subsequent evaluation is carried out in
the manner described above for measuring speaking skills. If pupils read silently
the teacher collects cards and evaluates comprehension by every pupil from the
answers.
The testing of vocabulary and grammar is carried out indirectly or directly. All the
above-mentioned tests imply the testing of vocabulary and grammar since the pupil
cannot give a satisfactory answer to any test if he does not know the words and
grammar items required. This is indirect testing. However the teacher may admin-
ister direct testing when he proposes a vocabulary test or a grammar test .
Assessment for Learning (AfL) is the idea that learners should be part of the the
assessment process. It includes building learner's awareness of their progress in
learning and encourages peer and self-assessment. Students may be asked to help
design tests or the rubrics for scoring. They may also provide their classmates with
suggestions and support. Assessment for Learning helps students evaluate their
strengths and areas of needed improvement.
Instruments: Assessment instruments and processes can be used to collect data on
many different attributes and performance characteristics. Instruments designed to
collect the data may be placed into one of three broad categories:
 Content Knowledge
 Student Interest, Perceptions, and Attitudes
 Process Knowledge, e.g., teamwork, design
Assessment Stories: In addition to the instruments that have been developed across
the Coalition, data has been collected on the curricular innovations that have been
implemented on many different partner campuses. Stories constructed from the
data are available on the Web site.
In an article by Chappuis and Stiggins (2002), three key components of Assessment
for Learning are discussed:
Student involved assessment. Students are not passive in the assessment process
but are engaged in developing the assessment, determining what a good
performance entails, and learning to score through models provided by the teacher.
Effective teacher feedback. Teachers are the models for students to learn what is
important in their performance. So feedback should be clear, descriptive, and
illustrated for students. Students need guidance in giving their peers feedback as
well as in evaluating themselves. This goal is grounded in the teacher modeling
effective feedback.
The skills of self-assessment. AfL should lead to self-directed learning, which
requires learners evaluate themselves. This skill is not easy and requires guidance
from the teacher. Students should be asked to think about their goals, their current
ability, and how to work from one to the other. Feedback and self-assessment are
critical parts of this process.

Self-assessment accuracy is a condition of learner autonomy. If students can

appraise their own performance accurately enough, they will not have to depend
entirely on the opinions of teachers and at the same time they will be able to make
teachers aware of their individual learning needs. The purpose of this article is (1)
to summarize the literature on self-evaluation of foreign language skills and (2) to
show what it could mean to teachers and researchers. The conclusions of several
self-assessment studies are somewhat contradictory, but these differences seem to
support Stephen D. Krashen's Monitor Model/theory. Therefore both teachers and
researchers should keep in mind that foreign language learners' self-estimates may
be influenced to a varying degree by the use of the Monitor.

EVALUATING PUPILS' ACHIEVEMENT

All the suggested tests are easy to evaluate and the marks that the teacher assigns
are objective because tests measure exactly what the pupil has learnt. Marks are
assigned on the basis of the work done in a particular class.
In schools we have a five-mark grading system. There are a good many teachers
who are not satisfied with the five-mark system, they extend it to a fifteen-mark
grading system when they give "five with a minus", "four with a plus", etc., though
this is not supported by "the authorities. The teacher must strictly follow the five-
mark grading system.
It is the responsibility of the teacher to assign marks and to report progress to
parents. It is easy to give a pupil a good mark particularly if it is higher than he
really expected. But • there are more occasions when marks bring more
disappointment than pleasure. The disappointment may be of two kinds. We may
call them "outer" and "inner". By the first we mean the disappointment of a pupil
when he receives a lower mark than he expected and expresses his feelings
somehow. By the second we mean the disappointment of a pupil who receives a
good mark in the foreign language, but feels that he does not deserve it, that there
is something wrong with the evaluation of his achievement. He knows there are
many "fours" and "fives" in class though he cannot say all his schoolmates have - a
good command of English. This is sometimes the case in our schools. There is a
paradox in measuring the achievement of pupils. The less experienced and
qualified the teacher is the more pupils have good marks. Therefore, "... teacher's
marks... are partly fact and partly fancy."
To serve effectively the purpose of stimulating, directing, and rewarding pupils'
efforts to learn, marks must be valid. The highest marks must go to those pupils
who have earned them. "Marks must be based on sufficient evidence. They must
report the degree of achievement as precisely as possible under the circumstances.
If marks are assigned on the basis of trivial, incidental, or irrelevant achievements,
or if they are assigned carelessly, their long-run effects on the educational efforts
of students cannot be good."
The shortcomings in marks are twofold:
(1) the lack of clearly defined, generally accepted definitions of what the various
marks should mean, as a result the meanings of marks tend to vary from teacher to
teacher, from school to school, which reduces the validity of the marks;
(2) the lack of sufficiently relevant, objective as a basis for assigning marks. The
result is marks tend to be unreliable.
Many investigators found wide differences on what various marks should mean
and the standards that should be followed in assigning them, among them V. P.
Bespalko. 1
The department of FL of APS made an attempt to give a definition of what the
various marks (5, 4, 3, 2, 1) should mean and what the standards are in assigning
each of them 2. The complexity of the problem, however, and the lack of profound
scientific research in the field did not allow the authors to give a reliable solution
to the problem. It still wants its investigators to work out a system of objective for-
eign language tests for every level of instruction and language skill. Such a system
of tests will make valid marking possible. At the present time the procedures for
assigning marks are about as good or as weak as the teachers who apply them.
Since there is no objective approach to measuring the achievement of pupils, the
teacher relies upon his intuition, the traditions that are observed in school, his
personal experience, and other chance factors.

Questions for Discussion:

1.Foreign language proficiency is difficult to test. Why?
2.When testing, the teacher instructs. Support this statement.
3.Contemporary teaching aids help the foreign language teacher to administer
efficient and objective tests. Do you agree? Give some examples to illustrate your
opinion.
4.Can the teacher test one skill by means of another? Give your arguments for or
against:
5.What should be done to enforce the validity of marks? State your reasons.
Activities:
Prepare a short test on (1) aural comprehension, (2) reading comprehension, (3)
pronunciation, (4) speaking on utterance level.
References:
1. http://www.foundationcoalition.org/home/keycomponents/
assessment_evaluation.html
http://tll.mit.edu/help/assessment-and-evaluation