Republic of Tunisia

Ministry of Education
Regional Board of Education - Sfax 2

A pedagogical research paper

Topic: Investigating Assessment in Language Teaching: The

Impact of Effective Formative Assessment on Summative
Assessment

Supervised by: Mrs. Farida Jlidi Ben Abdallah

Presented by: Mr. Rami Lahyani

Academic year: 2022-2023

 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor Mrs. Farida Jlidi Ben Abdallah,
inspector of English in the region of Sfax 2 for her patient guidance, enthusiastic
encouragement, and constructive feedback. Mrs. Farida made me believe in my capabilities and
steered me in the right direction. I am deeply indebted to her for her generosity, kindness, and
continuous support.

I would also like to thank all the people working at Essalem Preparatory School, who
contributed in providing the best of conditions that allowed me to teach as I planned.

Lastly, I would be remiss in not mentioning my family and friends. Their belief in me has kept
my spirits and motivation high during this process. This endeavour would not have been
possible without their encouragement and support throughout the year.

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Table of Contents:

I. Introduction
II. Literature review
1. Assessment: A general overview
a) What is assessment?
b) Testing vs assessing
2. Summative assessment
a) Definition
b) Test construction
3. Formative assessment
a) Definition
b) Ways of formative assessment
i. Self- and peer-assessment
ii. Observations
iii. Portfolios
iv. Picture-cued tasks
v. Dictation
c) Assessing writing
4. Implications of effective formative assessment: A key to successful summative
assessment
a) Using data from formative assessment
b) Giving feedback
III. Lesson plans
1. 7th form
2. 9th form
IV. Using assessment in the classroom
1. Formative assessment
a) Teaching context
b) Areas of assessment to improve
c) Activities used to pave the way for summative assessment with samples
of students’ handiwork
i. 7th form
ii. 9th form
2. Summative assessment
a) Test description
i. 7th form
ii. 9th form
b) Test samples
i. 7th form
ii. 9th form
V. Discussion: To what extent is the use of formative assessment in the classroom
beneficial?
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VI. Conclusion

Bibliography

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 I. Introduction:

In language education, as in any other field of education, assessment appears to be an

issue that preoccupies the different participants in the educational process. Most of these
participants seem to give the utmost priority to the summative assessment as it is associated
with grades. Getting good marks signifies success, and success denotes a bright future. But does
the equation of success involve only such type of assessment? Should teachers rely only on
periodical tests to evaluate their learners’ competencies, to identify their weaknesses, and
eventually what they need to work on more? Teachers, learners, and parents have the right to
give a great deal of importance to grades. Nonetheless, it seems that there is more to success
than a simple periodical test. The equation has probably other variables that all the participants
in the educational process should take into consideration. Summative assessment summarizes
all the work that takes place during a term or an academic year. Therefore, it is the teacher’s
duty to provide the optimal circumstances that pave the way for a successful performance in
the big day. This means that a teacher has to be always ready to accomplish their job no matter
what the circumstances are, and to avoid improvising even if it is successful. It is also the
teacher’s duty to identify their learners’ needs and plan their lessons accordingly. Teachers
might find this kind of information through another type of assessment which is known as
formative assessment.

In this piece of research, I will attempt to demonstrate that a successful summative

assessment is the result of a succession of multiple formative assessments. I will start with
surveying key concepts related to assessment. Then, I will deal in depth with the difference
between summative and formative assessment. I will also survey different ways of formative
assessment. Next, I will deal with the implications of formative assessment on the learning
process and eventually the summative assessment. In the second part of this research, I will deal
with the actual use of formative assessment in the classroom when teaching 7th and 9th formers
of basic education in Tunisia.

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II. Literature review:

1. Assessment: A general overview

a) What is assessment?

According to Brown (2003), assessment might be identified as an “ongoing process”

whereby a teacher “subconsciously” evaluates the learner’s “performance”, be it a simple
utterance or an elaborate piece of writing (p.4). This implies that assessment seems to be at the
heart of the teaching process as it gives the teacher an idea about the amount of learning that
took place.

Mukhopadhyay (2018) suggests that assessment can be “formal” or “informal” (p.8). In

fact, teachers can appraise their learners’ “performance” within a “formal” setting in which the
learners are aware that they are being evaluated (ibid). Indeed, the learners consciously take
part in a learning situation that puts their competencies to the test and at the end of which their
efforts will be rewarded with a “score” (ibid). On the other hand, assessment can be carried out
within an “informal” context by merely “observing” the students while working on a given
activity (ibid). In other words, assessment might not necessarily imply sitting for examinations
to have a glimpse of what the pupil can offer. Rather, it seems to be the continuous process of
constantly checking the students’ progress to adjust teaching strategies accordingly.

b) Testing vs assessing

Is testing the same as assessing? Brown (2003) defines a test as a “method of measuring
a person’s ability, knowledge, or performance in a given domain” (p.3). He explains that a test
is a method in the sense that it might be considered as an “instrument” that requires the test-
taker to carry out certain tasks in the form of “techniques, procedures, or items” (ibid). Brown
(2003) maintains that in order to be reckoned as a test, the “method” in question needs to be
“explicit and structured” (ibid). Indeed, it entails that some features need to be present (ibid).
For instance, the method might be in the form of “multiple-choice questions with prescribed
correct answers; a writing prompt with a scoring rubric; an oral interview based on a question
script and a checklist of expected responses to be filled in by the administrator” (ibid). Brown
(2003) asserts that a test needs to provide a “measurement” (ibid). In fact, tests can measure
“general ability”, but they should also be able to appraise “very specific competencies or
objectives” (ibid). Indeed, a “general ability level” might be detected by dint of a “multi-skill

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proficiency” test, whereas a “quiz” on a specific grammar point triggers the measurement of
“specific knowledge” (ibid). In other words, a test might be considered as an instrument that
can provide information about the overall aptitude of the test-taker if administered in a certain
way, while also being able to tap into particular areas of knowledge when administered in other
forms. Again, test measurements might yield various results (ibid). In fact, in some cases, the
test result would be as simple as “a letter grade accompanied by the instructor’s marginal
comments” (ibid). In some other cases, a “total numerical score and a percentile rank” would
be the outcome of the test measurement (ibid). Brown argues that unless the “instrument”
designates a “form of reporting measurement” that provides the test-taker with “some kind of
result”, the “technique” in question wouldn’t be exactly considered as a test (ibid). Simply put,
while some techniques of assessment might not necessarily communicate a measurable result,
a test imperatively offers the test-taker a quantified mark or grade. Accordingly, Brown (2003)
asserts that tests are a “subset” of assessment, since tests may not be the unique method of
assessment that a teacher can carry out (p.4). He maintains that however “useful” they might
be, tests are a single method among many other “procedures and tasks” that teachers can deploy
to “assess students” (ibid). Mukhopadhyay (2018) considers assessment as an “umbrella term
that includes a variety of measurements and estimates of learner performances” (p.8). In this
sense, assessment might be a broader and more inclusive term than testing. That is to say, every
test might be considered as a sort of assessment, but it would not make sense to view every
instance of assessment as a test.

2. Summative assessment

Brown (2003) argues that two major types of assessment might be distinguished,
namely “formative” and “summative” assessments (p.6). In fact, he suggests that such a
classification may be made based on the “function” of the assessment (ibid). In other words,
the purpose of the assessment would decide whether it has to do with summative or
formative assessment.

a) Definition

According to Brown (2003), summative assessment seeks to “measure, or summarize,

what a student has grasped” (p.6). He maintains that this assessment usually takes place “at the
end of a course or unit of instruction” (ibid). Brown suggests that “looking back and taking
stock” of the extent to which the learner has achieved the desired goal might be the
“summation” of the learning that took place (ibid). Nonetheless, summative assessment would
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not automatically “point the way” to forthcoming development (ibid). Among the examples of
summative assessment, one may think of “final exams in a course” and “general proficiency
exams”, to name but a few (ibid).

b) Test construction

Brown (2003) believes that selecting the appropriate “kind of test” might depend on the
purpose of the test that the teacher would conduct (p.43). In fact, he suggests the existence of a
multitude of test types, namely “language aptitude tests”, “proficiency tests”, “placement tests”,
“diagnostic tests”, and “achievement tests” (p.43-47). Brown (2003) argues that “language
aptitude tests” might be used in specific contexts to anticipate the individual’s “success prior to
exposure to the second language” (p.43). He maintains that “language aptitude” tests’ main
objective would be to assess the testee’s capability to acquire a “foreign language” and the
eventual “success” in this endeavour (ibid). Brown (2003) asserts that “proficiency tests” seek
to “test global competence in a language” (p.44). In other words, this type of test would not
focus on a particular “skill in the language” or a given “course” (ibid). “Proficiency tests” would
rather assess the testee’s general linguistic ability (ibid). Brown mentions the “Test of English
as a Foreign Language” (“TOEFL”) as a classic instance of a “proficiency test” (p.45).
According to Brown, “placement tests” might be considered as a subcategory of “proficiency
tests” but having as an objective to “place a student into a particular level or section of a
language curriculum or school” (ibid). “Placement tests” would generally contain a glimpse of
“the material to be covered in the various courses in a curriculum” (ibid). In the words of Brown,
“[a] diagnostic test is designed to diagnose specified aspects of a language” (p.46). In other
words, “diagnostic tests” help the tester to gain insight into potential “difficulties” that the testee
may encounter (ibid). Accordingly, the test “administrator” would make adjustments to focus
on the “linguistic features” that might need “special attention” (ibid). Brown considers
“achievement tests” to be immediately associated with “classroom lessons, units, or even a total
curriculum” (p.47). Therefore, “achievement tests” might be of great relevance to this piece of
research, and an emphasis would be put on this type of tests. According to Brown, “achievement
tests” need to be confined to specific “material” that the testee has been exposed to within a
“curriculum” during a finite period of time (p.47). In addition, “achievement tests” need to be
administered once the “course has focused on the objectives in question” (ibid). Brown adds
that “achievement tests” might have a “diagnostic role” in that they may specify which areas
require further development on the part of the pupil (p.47- 48). Nonetheless, the main purpose

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of an “achievement test” would be to check “whether course objectives have been met” after a
predetermined “period of instruction” (p.48).

Brown (2003) believes that certain features need to be considered when devising an
“achievement test” (p.48). In fact, he describes these features as “specifications” that might be
“determined” by specific factors (ibid). Indeed, Brown argues that the test administrator needs
to take into account the “objectives of the lesson, unit, or course being assessed” (ibid). In
addition, the significance of the objectives to be met might play an important role when
designing the test (ibid). Apart from that, the activities used while teaching lessons during the
period in question need to be given the due attention (ibid). Besides, Brown suggests that
“practicality” matters, namely “the time frame for the test and turnaround time” need not be
neglected (ibid). Furthermore, the test administrator needs to bear in mind whether the “test
structure” would be suitable to attain eventual “formative washback” (ibid).

Designing tests might not be an easy task. In fact, it may require a lot of preparation and
paying attention meticulously to the slightest details, not to mention the magnitude of its results
on the students’ fate. In this regard, Brown (2003) offers what he calls “some practical steps to
test construction” (p.48).

According to Brown (2003), the starting point for the teachers while undertaking the
heavy task of designing tests would be assigning “clear” and “unambiguous objectives” with
regards to the “unit” to be assessed (p.49). Indeed, teachers need to examine thoroughly what
their pupils are expected to “know” or to “be able to do”, in the light of the “material” that the
students have been exposed to (ibid). Brown maintains that the objectives need to be stated
“clearly in performance terms” (ibid). In other words, the objectives would be worded in terms
of what the students can produce rather than “know” or “learn”, in order to be measurable (ibid).

Brown (2003) insists on the importance of “drawing up test specifications” (p.50). In

fact, he considers these “specifications” as a “simple and practical outline of [the] test” (ibid).
Indeed, he suggests that “test specifications” would include a general “outline of the test”, the
“skills” that would be appraised, and “what the items will look like” (p.50).

In the words of Brown (2003), while “devising test tasks”, the “items” used in the tasks
need to correspond with the themes of the lessons taught in the classroom (p.53). Additionally,
certain aspects such as the students’ perception of the “items”, the existence of “authentic
language and contexts”, “items” that might be challenging due to “cultural schemata”, and the

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“length of the listening stimuli” _ to name but a few _ might be taken into account while
designing the test “items” (ibid). Brown maintains that the test administrator needs to make sure
that the test “items” yield to certain characteristics (p.54). For instance, it may be necessary to
check whether the “item” in question evaluates a “specified objective” (ibid). In addition, it
would be advisable to make sure that the “items” are expressed in “clear” and “simple” language
(ibid). Moreover, the test designer needs to ensure the presence of adequate “distractors” in
“multiple-choice” tasks, in that the “wrong items” would be “clearly wrong” but at the same
time “sufficiently alluring” (ibid). Furthermore, it might be necessary to check the level of
difficulty of the “items” to make them suitable for the pupils (ibid). Brown proposes that _
during “the final revision” _ the test administrators put themselves in the testees’ shoes and
work on the different tasks (ibid). Indeed, the teacher needs to “go through each set of directions
and all items slowly and deliberately” (ibid). Again, it would be important to keep an eye on
the needed time to answer the questions as teachers tend to “underestimate the time students
will need to complete a test” (ibid). Accordingly, the teacher would make the appropriate
“adjustments” (ibid).

3. Formative assessment
a) Definition

Brown (2003) believes that the majority of the assessment that takes place in the
classroom has to do with “formative assessment” (p.6). He suggests that this type of assessment
owes its nomenclature to the fact that such assessment takes place “in the process of ‘forming’
[the pupils’] competencies and skills with the goal of helping them to continue their growth
process” (ibid). Simply put, it seems that there might be an emphasis on developing the pupils’
capacities rather than quantifying the pupils’ performance in a particular task or domain. Brown
insists that the fundamental aspects that make up efficient “formative assessment” would be
“the delivery (by the teacher) and the internalization (by the student) of appropriate feedback
on performance”, while sustaining a will to further the process of “learning” (ibid). Brown
asserts that all instances of “informal assessment” appear to be “formative” (ibid). He explains
that the prime concern in such a process would be the “ongoing development of the learner’s
language” (ibid). For instance, the feedback _ provided to the learners _ in the form of a
“comment” or a “suggestion” would aim to enhance the student’s competencies (ibid).

b) Ways of formative assessment

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 Mukhopadhyay (2018) believes that besides the “pencil and paper tests” _ which are
meant for measuring learners’ performances as a way of “summative examination” _ there
appears to be a number of different options to assess learners for “formative purposes” (p.100).
She maintains that the teachers may deploy various “forms of assessment” that enable them to
gauge the learners’ capacities more thoroughly by dint of the diversity of “formats” (ibid).
These various ways of assessment appear to be “collectively” referred to as “alternative
assessments” (ibid). According to Brown (2003), the notion of “alternative assessment” could
be traced back to as early as the 1990s as a form of defiance of the “traditional tests” (ibid).
Indeed, proponents of the then emerging form of assessment argued that “traditional tests”
might not be able to appraise “all people and all skills” (ibid). In this section, we will review
some instances of alternative ways of assessment which are inherently formative.

i. Self- and peer-assessment

Brown (2003) argues that several generally accepted concepts in “second language
acquisition” give “theoretical” grounds for “self-assessment” (p. 270). In fact, the concept of
“autonomy” might be essential for effective learning (ibid). Indeed, to achieve positive results,
the learner might need to be able to define their objectives “both within and beyond the structure
of a classroom curriculum”, to strive for these objectives by oneself, and to make sure that they
are on the right path individually (ibid). In addition, the principle of “intrinsic motivation” _
which consists in motivating oneself to have the willingness to thrive _ might represent an
important asset to develop “any set of skills” efficiently (ibid).

Similar to “self-assessment”, “peer-assessment” appears to be based on several concepts

that grant it its “theoretical” legitimacy, notably “cooperative learning” (Brown, 2003, p. 270).
In fact, despite not being valued by learners throughout their academic careers, “collaboration
in learning” seems to offer the advantage of a “community of learners” who _ in one way or
another _ can exchange learning experiences (ibid). Indeed, “peer-assessment” might be
considered an integral part in a multitude of processes in the field of “learner-centered and
collaborative education” (ibid).

Brown (2003) insists that differentiating between the various types of “self- and peer-
assessment” and putting them into practice appropriately might be of great significance (p.271).
For that reason, he conceived five “categories” of “self- and peer-assessment”, namely “direct

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assessment of performance”, “indirect assessment of performance”, “metacognitive
assessment”, “assessment of socioaffective factors”, and “student self-generated tests” (ibid).

“Direct assessment of performance” deals with the learners’ ability to observe

themselves while working on “either oral or written production” and to assess their
“performance” (ibid). Brown believes that the appraisal needs to be conducted shortly “after
the performance” (ibid). For instance, an “oral presentation” may be followed by completing a
“checklist” _ by the learner or the peer _ that evaluates the “performance” according to a clear
system of measurement (ibid). Similarly, the learner might answer a “self-corrected
comprehension quiz” after watching a “video-recorded lecture” (ibid). Brown suggests that
“journals” might be an efficient means of “self-assessment” while “peer editing” would make
a great instance of “direct assessment of a specific performance” (ibid).

“Indirect self- or peer-assessment has to do with “evaluating” the learner’s “general

ability” over a relatively longer period of time, unlike “direct assessment” which focuses on a
comparatively “time-constrained performance” (ibid). To illustrate the difference between
“direct” and “indirect” assessment, Brown establishes an analogy with the “classic competence-
performance distinction” (p.271). In fact, (direct) “self- and peer-assessments of performance”
seem to be time-bound and target quite “short performance[s]” (ibid). On the other hand,
(indirect) “assessments of competence” may involve learning processes that take place during
larger chunks of time, namely a “module” or a “whole term of course work” (ibid). “Indirect
assessment of competence” aims at overlooking “minor, nonrepeating performance flaws”,
hence appraising “general ability” (ibid).

“Metacognitive assessment” seems to offer a broader perspective to the learning

experience in that it would enable the student to be “strategic[ally]” involved in establishing
learning objectives and keeping track of their progress (Brown, 2003, p.272). In fact, the learner
might benefit from this experience by developing a sense of “intrinsic motivation” and by
receiving an additional push thanks to achieving the already set objectives by oneself (ibid). A
number of procedures might be good for nurturing “strategic planning” and “self-monitoring”,
notably “journal entries”, “questionnaires”, or “cooperative pair or group planning” (ibid).

“Socioaffective assessment” has to do with exploring “affective factors” that are

involved in the “learning” process (Brown, 2003, p.274). This type of assessment appears to be
quite dissimilar to the other types of assessment that emphasize the “linguistic aspects” in

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learning (ibid). In fact, “socioaffective assessment” might imply observing “oneself” from a
“psychological” perspective (ibid). In other words, such assessment seems to focus on the
emotional side of the learning process _ rather than the linguistic one _ alongside the insights
that it may offer to improve the learning experience. Indeed, learners appeal to an “all-important
socioaffective domain” in their quest for appraising and enhancing their “motivation”,
estimating and reducing their “anxiety”, identifying then eliminating “emotional obstacles to
learning” (ibid).

Even though it might not be categorized “strictly” as “self- or peer-assessment”,

“student-generated tests” would be a method that enables learners to play a part in the “process”
of “test construction” (Brown, 2003, p.275-276). Brown maintains that “student-generated
tests” might be “productive”, inherently “motivating”, and “autonomy-building”, despite the
“traditional” perspective that opposes learners’ participation in the process of “test
construction” (p.276). Indeed, Gorsuch (1998) argues that “student-generated quiz items” made
boring periodical “quizzes” more cooperative and satisfying (as cited in Brown, 2003, p.276).
The learners’ participation in the “process” of designing tasks and selecting vocabulary would
result in a strong “reinforcement of the reading” that might not be achieved through “any
teacher-designed quiz” (ibid).

ii. Observations

Brown (2003) suggests that every teacher continuously “observe[s] their students”
throughout the sessions, be it in a conscious way or not (p. 266). Mukhopadhyay (2018) believes
that teachers who work with students during an “academic year or a semester” might make
“mental estimates” of their students without necessarily keeping a note of them in an official
way (p.101). In fact, such “estimates” could be made in various modes, namely by keeping
track of the number of the student’s responses during the session; the level of the learner’s
willingness to participate; or the frequency of attending the class after having checked some
“extra material” relevant to the subject in question (ibid). Mukhopadhyay insists that it would
not be wise to make the learners aware that the teacher is assessing them when conducting
classroom observations (ibid). Indeed, Brown (2003) believes that the teacher’s discretion while
conducting the observation seems to decrease the “anxiety” on the part of the learners, hence
“maximiz[e] the naturalness of their linguistic performance” (p.267). Brown points out that
such assessment has to do with “observation as a systematic, planned procedure for real-time,
almost surreptitious recording of student verbal and nonverbal behavior” (ibid). In other words,

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it might be as if the teacher has an internal camera that secretly records instances of linguistic
performances of pupils to eventually store them in organized files or rather profiles for each
student. Eventually, the teacher analyses the data of each student and makes decisions
accordingly.

Brown (2003) argues that a mere “question”, “response”, or even the slightest
“nonverbal behaviour” may serve as material for classroom observations (p.266-267).
Nonetheless, a wide range of behaviours might be observed (ibid). Indeed, the teacher may
focus on “sentence-level oral production skills” like the “pronunciation of target sounds” and
the “grammatical features” (ibid). In addition, it might be possible to observe “discourse-level
skills” such as “conversation rules” and “turn-taking” (ibid). Another area to focus on would
be checking the comprehension of listening passages through “questions”, “clarifications”, and
“attention-giving verbal and nonverbal behavior” (ibid). Moreover, the teacher might observe
the learners’ “affective states” as they may influence the learning process (ibid). Indeed,
knowing the learners’ level of “self-esteem”, “extroversion”, “anxiety”, and “motivation” may
prove useful when dealing with certain situations (ibid). Furthermore, “students’ verbal or
nonverbal response to materials, types of activities, [and] teaching styles” might be worth
observing as they can give the teacher some insight in regards with planning future lessons
(ibid).

According to Mukhopadhyay (2018), classroom observations may be conducted

“formally” and “informally” (p.101). An “informal” classroom observation consists in bearing
in mind how a student carried out a specific task and deploying this “impression” to appraise
the student’s “overall performance” when the academic period is done (ibid). On the other hand,
a “formal” observation would imply taking “notes” about the students in a “diary” or devising
a “checklist” (ibid). Eventually, the collected data would be analysed to make an assessment of
the learner’s capabilities and evolution (ibid). Mukhopadhyay illustrates “checklists” with the
sample below:

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 “No. of times “No. of times “No. of times “No of times
responded/interacted asked questions to attempted to participated in
in class” clarify doubts” respond to group activity and
questions (as tasks helped others with
given in class)” language use”

“Learner A”

“Learner B”

“Learner C”

Table 5.1: Teacher classroom observation sheet (ibid)

iii. Portfolios

According to Brown (2003), “portfolio development” might be one of the well-liked

“alternatives in assessment”, particularly in the context of “communicative language teaching”
(p.256). Genesee and Upshur (1996) define a portfolio as “a purposeful collection of students’
work that demonstrates … their efforts, progress, and achievements in given areas” (as cited in
Brown, 2003, p.256). Mukhopadhyay (2018) believes that some teachers opt to collect data
regarding their students’ “performance” which would be eventually stored in an organized way
as a “folder” (p.104). She argues that this method might represent a sort of “dynamic
assessment” in that the learner’s appraisal would take place during an interval of time rather
than in a single “pencil and paper test” (ibid). Portfolios may include a variety of learning
“materials” like “essays and compositions”; “poetry and creative prose”; “tests and written
homework exercises”; and “self- and peer-assessments and checklists”, to name but a few
(Brown, 2003, p.256).

Brown (2003) asserts that learners in all academic stages may “benefit […] from the
tangible, hands-on nature of portfolio development” (p.256). Gottlieb (1995) summarises the
advantages of “portfolio development” through the “acronym” “CRADLE” whose letters stand
for six features of the method in question, namely “collecting”, “reflecting”, “assessing”,
“documenting”, “linking”, and “evaluating” (as cited in Brown, 2003, p.256). “Portfolios” seem
to “collect” instances of the learners’ handiwork which would open a window into the
“students’ lives and identities” (ibid). In order to be fruitful, “portfolio development” needs to

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embody “reflective” methods such as “journals” and “self-assessment checklists” (ibid). The
process of “assessing” “quality and development” during the academic period necessitates
investing the required amount of effort and giving it considerable importance on the part of
educators and learners alike (ibid). Portfolios need to be acknowledged as a “document” that
may have the ability to display the learner’s “achievement”, and not as a mere supplement to
“tests […] and other more traditional evaluation” (ibid). The “portfolio” _ a perceptible creation
that testifies to the learner’s “uniqueness” _ may function as a “linking” thread that brings
together the different participants in the educational process, namely “students”, “teachers”,
“parents”, “community”, and “peers” (ibid). Lastly, even though “evaluating” “portfolios”
might be a laborious task, it seems to offer satisfaction as well since it implies “generating”
responsibility (ibid). Indeed, Mukhopadhyay (2018) suggests that “portfolio assessment” would
enable the students to enhance their capabilities with reference to the “feedback” they get from
prior assignments and improve their performance in subsequent “tasks” (p.104).

A summary of the portfolio’s advantages can be made based on multiple “sources”

(Genesee & Upshur, 1996; O’Malley & Valdez Pierce, 1996; Brown & Hudson, 1998; Weigle,
2002) (as cited in Brown, 2003, p.257). First, portfolios might instil a sense of “intrinsic
motivation”, accountability, and “ownership” in the learners (ibid). In addition, this method
would nurture the idea of “the teacher as facilitator” and encourage communication in this mode
(ibid). Moreover, “portfolio development” might offer concrete “evidence” of the learner’s
handiwork (ibid). Furthermore, this technique may promote “critical thinking” and “self-
assessment” (ibid). Finally, portfolios might encourage cooperative learning and allow the
evaluation of various aspects of “language learning” (ibid).

In order to conduct “portfolio-development” successfully, it would be recommended to

follow certain “guidelines” (Brown, 2003, p.257). Brown believes that it might be important to
declare the purpose of the “portfolio” in an explicit way (ibid). In fact, the teacher needs to
make sure the learners know that the portfolio would be made of “materials from the course
they are taking” and that this process aims at achieving “curricular goals” (ibid). Brown also
insists that learners would benefit from knowing “what materials to include” in their
“portfolios” (ibid). For instance, showing the students a “portfolio” of a former pupil as an
example would give them an idea on the things to add to their compilation (ibid). Additionally,
Brown argues that clear “assessment criteria” need to be given to the learners (ibid). Added to
that, it might be necessary to assign a specific amount of time “within the curriculum” to design

16
the portfolio (ibid). Indeed, Brown believes that the efficiency of this method would decrease
if the learners were not certain about the time available or if they felt pressed for time, hence
the importance of clarity with regards to time (ibid). It might also be important to “schedule”
fixed occasions to check the learners’ progress in order to avoid rushing the task towards the
“end” of the “term” (ibid). Another important requirement would be specifying “an accessible
place to keep portfolios” (ibid). Indeed, having to constantly transport a pile of handiwork might
be troublesome for some learners (ibid). For that reason, allocating a specific corner in the
classroom or in a “reading room” to store the “materials” would be an appropriate solution
(ibid). If this solution is “logistically” unfeasible, asking the students to make a personal
“accessible location” and carry to class only the necessary “materials” might solve the problem
(ibid). Brown also insists that this method would not be worthwhile unless the teacher supplies
“positive washback-giving final assessments” (ibid). In other words, portfolios need to be
developed not for the sake of decoration but rather to bear fruitful results that would have a
positive impact on the learning process (ibid).

iv. Picture-cued tasks

Brown (2003) believes that “picture-cued stimulus” _ which involves “description” on

the part of the student _ might be a widely accepted method for putting into practice the learner’s
linguistic “performance” at “intensive and extensive levels” alike (p.151). In fact, “pictures”
used in this technique may vary in the degree of complexity and serve different purposes (ibid).
Indeed, pictures might be conceived in a “simple” way in order to “elicit a word or a phrase”
(ibid). Again, it might be a sequence of “pictures” that narrate a tale or an “incident” (ibid).
Brown illustrates the utility of this method by enumerating several contexts where “picture-
cued stimulus” can be applied. He starts with a “picture-cued elicitation of the production of
minimal pairs” (p.152). In fact, the task consists in showing the learners a picture containing a
“sheep” and a “ship”, “pointing to each picture in succession”, and asking them “what’s this?”
(ibid). Another task is provided by Brown and Sahni (1994, p.116) which has to do with
“picture-cued elicitation of nouns, negative responses, numbers, and location” (as cited in
Brown, 2003, p.154). Indeed, the tasks involves showing the learners a picture of a family
gathering in the living room (ibid). To assess the learners’ knowledge, the teacher points to
different elements in the picture and asks several questions such as “what’s this?”; “is this a
chair?”; “how many women are there?”; and “where is the TV?” (ibid). Therefore, one might
assume that “pictured-cued tasks” seem to be a fairly efficient and practical method to make
quick assessments of the learner’s capabilities in certain domains.

17
 v. Dictation

According to Brown (2003), “dictation” might be considered as a broadly investigated

“genre” of “assessment” which “typically” consists in having the learners listen to a “passage
[…] of 50 to 100 words, recited three times” (ibid). During the “first” time, the teacher
“recites” what is being dictated at a regular pace (ibid). During the second time, the teacher
would include “long pauses between phrases” which may allow the learner to take down what
is being dictated (ibid). During the third and last time, the teacher would go back to the
regular pace to enable the learners to see if there are any mistakes (ibid).

Brown (2003) attributes the popularity of this method to the requisite “integration of
listening and writing” as well as putting into practice the learner’s knowledge of “grammar”
and “discourse” (p.131). He maintains that the teacher can adjust the “difficulty” of the task
according to the learners’ level by modifying the “length of the word groups”, the duration of
the “pauses”, the pace of enunciation, and the “complexity” of various linguistic features
(ibid). Brown believes that “dictation” might be an efficient tool to “integrate” “listening and
writing skills” and access the different linguistic features included in the “passages” (p.132).
Nonetheless, Buck (2001) argues that if the “word groups” in the dictation are quite lengthy,
the task might not produce the desired result (as cited in Brown, 2003, p.132). Indeed, more
challenging “word groups” would tax “memory” by putting strains on “meaning processing”
(ibid).

c) Assessing writing:
i. An overview:

Brown (2003) believes that assessing writing might not be an easy duty (p.218). When
undertaking this duty of assessing writing, the teacher needs to bear in mind a “clear objective”
behind evaluating writing, be it “correct[ing] spelling”, “writing sentences that are
grammatically correct”, “paragraph construction”, or the rational formation of a “main idea”,
among other objectives (ibid).

Brown (2003) suggests that four main “categories of written performance” might exist,
namely “imitative”, “intensive”, “responsive”, and “extensive writing (p.220). Brown believes
that “imitative writing” could be considered a “level” wherein students are expected to grasp
the “mechanics of writing” (ibid). In fact, “imitative writing” has to do with the capacity of
“spell[ing] correctly” and the understanding of the “phoneme-grapheme correspondences in the

18
English spelling system” (ibid). Therefore, it seems to be a process through which learners
develop “basic” writing skills such as “writing letters, words, punctuation, and very brief
sentences”, hence putting emphasis on “form” rather than “context and meaning” (ibid). As for
“intensive” or “controlled” writing, Brown argues that this type deals with slightly more
advanced skills _ than the ones in “imitative writing” _ like “producing appropriate vocabulary
within a context”, “collocations and idioms”, and “correct grammatical features” at the sentence
level (ibid). Unlike in “imitative writing”, “meaning and context” appear to be fairly essential
for the sake of “correctness and appropriateness”, even though the majority of “tasks” within
this type tend to emphasize “form” and seem to be governed by the “test design” (ibid). Brown
suggests that “responsive writing” has to do with producing pieces of writing at a “limited
discourse level”, in that the students would be able to link “sentences into a paragraph” and
establish a “logically connected sequence of two or three paragraphs” (ibid). Indeed, this type
of writing might involve a variety of “genres”, namely short “narratives and descriptions”,
concise “reports”, “summaries”, and “interpretations of charts or graphs”, to name but a few
(ibid). Within “responsive writing”, the learner would have acquired the basics of “sentence-
level grammar” and would rather shift the attention to the “discourse conventions” that would
enable them to reach the desired final product (ibid). Unlike “imitative” and “intensive” writing,
the focal point here seems to be “context and meaning”, while “form” appears to be given
attention mainly “at the discourse level” (ibid). Brown argues that “extensive writing” appears
to encompass “all the processes and strategies of writing for all purposes” (ibid). Indeed, at this
level, the learner would be able to produce an “essay”, a “term paper”, a substantial “research
project report”, or “even a thesis” (ibid). In “extensive writing”, there seems to be an emphasis
on fulfilling a “purpose”, arranging and expanding “ideas logically”, deploying examples to
back up or “illustrate” arguments, showcasing “syntactic and lexical variety”, and undertaking
the “process of multiple drafts” in order to accomplish the ultimate “product” (ibid). Within
“extensive writing”, the concentration on “grammatical form” seems to be reduced to sporadic
“editing or proofreading of a draft” (ibid).

According to Brown (2003), in order to master the art of “assessing writing”, the teacher
needs to distinguish between two sets of skills that seem to be needed while undertaking writing
activities, namely “microskills” and “macroskills” (p.220). He maintains that the “microskills”
might be especially useful in “imitative” and “intensive” writing activities, while “macroskills”
appear to be fundamental to undertake “responsive” and “extensive” writing activities
proficiently (ibid). In fact, “microskills” involve generating “graphemes” and “orthographic

19
patterns of English”; writing using an effective pace that accommodates the task in question;
generating a satisfactory “core of words” and deploying suitable “word order patterns”;
employing adequate “grammatical systems”, “patterns”, and “rules”; stating a given message
in “different grammatical forms”; and deploying “cohesive devices in written discourse”
(p.221). “Macroskills”, on the other hand, have to do with utilizing “rhetorical forms and
conventions of written discourse”; achieving adequately the “communicative functions of
written texts” in line with “form and purpose”; sequencing “events” and the ability to
distinguish a “main idea”, a “supporting idea”, “new information”, “given information”,
“generalization”, and “exemplification” ; differentiating between “literal and implied meanings
when writing”; and transmitting “references” that are connected to a particular culture through
the “context” in an adequate way (ibid).

ii. Ways of assessing writing:

Brown (2003) proposes a variety of “assessment tasks” that might be appropriate for the
different “categories of writing”, namely “imitative”, “intensive”, “responsive”, and
“extensive” writing (p.221-235). Starting with “imitative writing”, Brown suggests “listening
cloze selection tasks” (p.221). In fact, this activity consists in providing the learners with a
gapped paragraph which they have to fill using a “list of missing words” while listening to the
“script” (ibid). This activity aims at allowing the learner to “practi[s]e writing” rather than
“test[ing] spelling” (ibid). Nonetheless, “spelling” can be put to the test by “increas[ing] the
difficulty” of the task through omitting the “list of words” (ibid). Another activity which is
“converting numbers and abbreviations to words” has to do with providing learners with a
“section on which numbers are written” (ibid). In this case, the students need to transform the
numbers from the numerical form to the written form (ibid).

Moving to the second “category of writing” which is “intensive” or “controlled” writing,

Brown proposes “grammatical transformation tasks” (p.226). He believes that this “technique”
seems to be used to appraise mainly “grammatical competence”. He maintains that a multitude
of variations of this activity might exist making the “list of possibilities […] almost endless”
(ibid). For instance, the learner may be asked to transform the “tenses” in a “paragraph”,
transform “full forms of verbs to reduced forms or contractions, transform “questions into
statements”, join “two sentences into one” by means of a “relative pronoun”, transform “direct
speech to indirect speech”, or transform a passage “from active to passive voice” (ibid). Another
“technique” within “intensive writing” would “picture-cued tasks” (ibid). Indeed, the teacher

20
may provide the learner with pictures of “some simple action[s]” about which the learner needs
to write short sentences (p.227). Another more advanced variation of this “technique” would
be “picture description” which consists in providing the learners with a “somewhat more
complex picture” containing various elements that the learners would “describe” (ibid). For
instance, the learner may use “prepositions of place” to locate objects in a room (ibid). Yet
another alternative of “picture-cued tasks” might exist, namely “picture sequence description”
(ibid). Indeed, the teacher may provide the learners with a series of “three to six pictures”
illustrating a “story” like comic strips (ibid). Brown believes that as long as the “pictures” would
be “simple and unambiguous”, these illustrations might “provide a suitable stimulus for written
production” (ibid). For instance, the teacher could show the learners pictures containing a
“sequence” of daily routines which the learners would describe (p.228). Still in the “controlled
writing category”, another “technique” to assess writing would be “ordering tasks” (p.230).
Indeed, this activity has to do with “ordering” or “reordering” a disorganized list of words to
obtain a “correct sentence” (ibid). It is noteworthy that the more there are words to be reordered,
the more this task would be challenging for the learners. Brown suggests another type of “tasks”
that might fit in the “controlled writing category”, namely “short-answer and sentence
completion tasks” (ibid). Indeed, this “technique” consists in giving the learners paragraphs
with missing utterances which the pupils need to complete (p.231). For instance, the passage
might be a dialogue with missing questions or answers (ibid). It could also be a list of sentences
that the learners need to “restate” in their “own words” while adding a new word (ibid). The
learners may also be required to formulate “wh questions” while using specific lexical items
(ibid).

Brown (2003) opts to illustrate a list of “assessment tasks” for “responsive” and
“extensive” writing in the same section (p.233-235). He believes that “responsive” and
“extensive” writing “tasks” might be considered a “continuum of possibilities” starting with
less challenging “tasks” up till more “complex” or “open-ended tasks”. Brown starts with the
technique of “paraphrasing” (p.234). He considers it to be a “concept” which might be
challenging for “second language learners” to understand (ibid). Brown highlights the
“importance” of making learners realize that this “technique” may be used to express an idea
“in one’s own words” in order to “avoid plagiarizing” and to “express” things and concepts
differently and with “some variety” (ibid). Within the same continuum, Brown suggests the
“guided question and answer” task (p.234). He believes that this task seems to have the
“pedagogical benefit” of directing the student “without dictating the form of the output” (ibid).

21
This activity consists in giving the learner a “series of questions” which would function as an
“outline” to assist the learner in writing the final product (ibid). At the higher end of the same
continuum lie “paragraph construction tasks” (p.235). Brown argues that in order to master
effective writing, the learners need to “emulate” what they read (ibid). In fact, the learner could
“read an effective paragraph” and “analyse” it in order to identify the “ingredients of its
success” (ibid). Indeed, Brown suggests that “paragraph construction” might go through
different steps, namely “topic sentence writing”, “topic development within a paragraph”, and
“development of main and supporting ideas across paragraphs” (ibid). Starting with “topic
sentence writing”, Brown believes that expressing the “topic” of the paragraph by means of the
opening sentence seems to be a “tried-and-true technique” for training the learners to grasp the
“concept of a paragraph” (ibid). Moving to “topic development within a paragraph”, Brown
insists that writing an “effective” paragraph stipulates presenting the reader with “clusters of
meaningful, connected thoughts or ideas” (ibid). In other words, the writer needs to expand on
the topic sentence by developing a body of coherent and cohesive sentences. Arriving to
“development of main and supporting ideas across paragraphs”, Brown argues that in the
context of “longer text[s]” that consist of “two or more paragraphs”, the “writer” needs to
connect a “thesis” or “main idea” with “clearly stated supporting ideas” (ibid). It is worth noting
that examples and supporting details might be useful to illustrate the “main idea” and might
help back up thoughts or arguments.

4. Implications of effective formative assessment: A key to successful

summative assessment
a) Using data from formative assessment

It might be important to assess the learners’ performance in certain domains but it might
be equally important to make use of the collected data wisely to take measures that would
remedy the shortcomings and pave the way for future successful summative assessments.

Torres (2019) believes that “formative assessment” seems to have a “positive” effect on
the teaching and learning processes alike (p.7). In fact, “formative assessment” might be an
opportunity for the educator to consider certain choices made while teaching (ibid). In fact, this
would allow the teacher to spot some defects in order to redress them (ibid). Indeed, some
teachers tend to assume that the learners are uninterested in the subject they teach because of
the poor results, while in reality the pupils may just need teaching methods that correspond to
their “learning needs” (ibid). Since “formative assessment” appears to be an ongoing process,

22
there might be room for adapting the lessons _ in terms of “content and methodology” _ for the
leaners’ “needs” (ibid). In other words, the teachers would not conduct “formative assessment”
for the sake of doing it. Instead, they would deploy the information they gathered about their
learners’ strengths and weaknesses to take some actions that would remedy the problems. For
instance, the teachers can opt to allocate an additional amount of time for a specific grammar
point or devise a remedial work session to tackle the deficiencies.

b) Giving feedback

“Formative assessment” may improve the learning process as it would allow the learners
to obtain “timely appropriate feedback” (Torres, 2019, p.7). In fact, by receiving the right
“feedback”, the learners would avoid the “fossilization” of some linguistic flaws (ibid). In other
words, the learners would get the right information before it might be too late as they would not
only refine their linguistic “competence” but also lay the first stone for future satisfactory
“performances”. Moreover, “feedback sessions” offer the learners the opportunity to request
thorough explanations concerning “observations made by the teacher” (ibid). Added to that, the
pupils would earn the possibility to showcase the extent of learning that has taken place by dint
of various means, hence to be upgraded to “an upper proficiency level” (ibid).

Torres (2019) believes that “giving feedback […] is much more than just telling students
what they did wrong so that they can fix it” (p.8). In order to enable the learners to make the
most of it, “feedback” needs to be given the right way. According to Mansourizadeh and Izwan
(2014), it would be wise to examine the learners’ handiwork meticulously prior to “giving
feedback”, and to deliver the desired remarks “based on specific points to be addressed” (as
cited in Torres, 2019, p.8). Besides, Hedgcock and Ferris (2014) argue that “destructive
feedback” may hinder the pupils’ learning process (as cited in Torres, 2019, p.8). In fact,
“destructive feedback” consists in making “negative feedback” the focal point of the session,
which might make the session a “really frustrating experience” (ibid). Indeed, instead of
“harming learners”, “feedback sessions” are probably meant to show the learners how they can
improve their performance in a specific “task” (ibid). As a result, this would make the pupils
well-equipped to face future assessments (ibid). Therefore, giving “feedback” might be crucial
to prepare the learners for future “summative assessments”, but it might be no less important to
know how to deliver the proper “feedback” on the part of the teacher.

23
 III. Lesson plans
1. 7th form

Tunisian Republic Date: 20 – 09 – 2022

Ministry of Education Teacher: Rami Lahyani
Essalem prep. School, El Amra, Sfax Level: 7th form

Module 1 – Section 1: Tell me about your family

Objective: To write a paragraph to introduce oneself.
Speaking test: Two pupils perform a conversation to get acquainted.
Skills: Speaking – Listening – Reading – Writing
Functions: Greeting – Introducing self and others
Grammar: Hello / Hi – Subject pronouns – Verb to be – Demonstratives
Lexis: pupil – teacher – brother – sister – little – farmer – friend – meet
Teaching aids: student’s book – activity book – worksheets – visuals – realia
Interaction patterns: Teacher-student + student-student

Suggested procedure:

Stage Activity Pupils’ Timing

organization
Speaking test Two pupils perform a conversation to get acquainted In pairs 2
minutes

Pre-stage 1) The teacher points to a pupil and asks “who is this?” => This Individuals 15
is ………………………… minutes

The teacher points to 2 pupils and asks “who are these?” =>
These are ………. and ……………
The teacher shows a pen and asks “what is this?” => This is
a pen.
The teacher shows 2 pens and asks “what are these” =>
These are pens.
The teacher focuses on the pronunciation this vs these.
The teacher underlines the nouns and asks “singular or

24
 plural?”. When do we use this? When do we use these?
Demonstratives: This is + singular
These are + plural
2) Practice: Introduce your classmate – Introduce two
In pairs
classmates.
While-stage Read and listen p.5 SB: Individuals 15
minutes
1) The teacher assigns some pupils to read out loud.
2) The teacher checks the understanding of the vocabulary
using a family tree and flashcards. (+ drilling)
3) The pupils work on activity b p.6 (Read and match).
4) The pupils read the text and pick out the functions.
(handout)
Post-stage Writing: Individuals 15
minutes
Activity 3 p.7: On your notebook, write a short paragraph to
introduce yourself.

25
 Tunisian Republic Date: 23 – 09 – 2022
Ministry of Education Teacher: Rami Lahyani
Essalem prep. School, El Amra, Sfax Level: 7th form

Module 1 – Section 1: Tell me about your family (pupils’ hour)

Objective: To write a paragraph to introduce oneself and one’s family.
Skills: Speaking – Listening – Writing
Functions: Recycling the acquired functions
Grammar: Recycling the acquired grammatical structures
Lexis: Recycling the acquired lexical items
Teaching aids: activity book – worksheets – visuals – loudspeaker
Interaction patterns: Teacher-student + student-student
Suggested procedure:
Stage Activity Pupils’ Timing
organization
Pre-stage 1) With the help of the visuals the teacher reviews the newly Individuals 15
minutes
acquired vocabulary.

2) Word search game (Activity 4 p.2 AB) Students find words In groups
related to school and family and write them on their

notebooks.

3) The students complete the sentences with “this is” or “these

are” to review demonstratives. (handout)

While-stage 1) Time for a song: The pupils listen to the song and In groups 15
minutes
complete the lyrics. (handout)

2) The pupils work on activity 3 p.2 AB to review verb to be

and to pave the way for the writing activity.

26
 3) The pupils work on activity 6 p.4 AB. They use

demonstratives to write sentences to introduce people in the

pictures (this also paves the way for the writing activity).

Post-stage Writing: Individuals 15

minutes
The pupils read a paragraph about a girl who introduces herself
and her family and write a similar one to introduce themselves
and their families. (Individual work).

27
Tunisian Republic Date: 26 – 09 – 2022
Ministry of Education Teacher: Rami Lahyani
Essalem prep. School, El Amra, Sfax Level: 7th form

Module 1 – Section 2: Tell me more about your family (session 1)

Objective: To ask and answer about age and number
Speaking test: Introduce yourself – Introduce a classmate – Introduce 2 classmates.
Skills: Speaking – Reading – Writing
Functions: Introducing – Identifying – Asking about age and number - Possession
Grammar: Have got – short answers – how many – how old
Lexis: more – grandparents – parents – children – daughter – son – family tree – how many –
how old
Project work: Draw your family tree and introduce yourself and your family members.
Teaching aids: student’s book – visuals
Interaction patterns: Teacher-student + student-student
Suggested procedure:
Stage Activity Pupils’ Timing
organization
Speaking test Introduce yourself Individuals 2
minutes
Introduce a classmate

Introduce 2 classmates.
Lead in Do you remember Aly Soltane? Last time, he introduced his family. Now, he will tell
us more (hand gesture) about his family.
Pre-stage 1) The teacher shows the pupils Aly’s family tree and asks Individuals 15
some questions: minutes

What is this? => A family tree.

What is there in a family tree? => family members
Who are the family members? (review lexis) => father,
mother,…
Mother + father = parents
Grandfather + grandmother = grandparents

28
 Who is Selim? => Aly’s brother
Who is Selim to Hedy? Is he his brother? => He is his
son
What about Imen? She is his daughter. (Use drilling)
Son + daughter = children => Aly, Ahmed, Imen, and
Selim are Hedy’s children
Individuals
2) I have got two sisters. What about you? The teacher
listens to some answers and elicits the rule.
I / we / you / they + have got / ‘ve got
He / she / it + has got /’s got
=> Possession
Examples: I’ve got one brother. She has got two sisters.
While-stage Reading p.9 SB: 15
minutes
1) Look at the family tree, read, and complete the text. Individuals
2) The pupils work on activity 2 p.10 (Oral activity). The In pairs
pupils practise the use of asking about age and number.
The teacher elicits the rule. How many …? => Asking
about number How old……? => Asking about
age
Individuals
3) The pupils work on Spelling p.12 SB
Post-stage Speaking: In pairs 15
minutes
Pupil A asks a question about age and number related to
family members.
Pupil B answers the questions. Then, the roles are
reversed.

29
 Tunisian Republic Date: 27 – 09 – 2022

Ministry of Education Teacher: Rami Lahyani

Essalem prep. School, El Amra, Sfax Level: 7th form

Module 1 – Section 2: Tell me more about your family (session 2)

Objective: To write a report about a classmate’s family

Speaking test: How many brothers and sisters have you got? How old are they?

Skills: Speaking – Reading – Speaking

Functions: Asking about age and number – Possession (negative form)

Grammar: Haven’t got – hasn’t got – short answers – how many – how old

Lexis: more – grandparents – parents – children – daughter – son – family tree – how many –
how old

Project work: Draw your family tree and introduce yourself and your family members.

Teaching aids: student’s book – activity book – visuals – handouts

Interaction patterns: Teacher-student + student-student

Suggested procedure:

Stage Activity Pupils’ Timing

organization
Speaking test How many brothers and sisters have you got? Individuals 2
minutes
How old are they?
Pre-stage 1) Review the family tree. (Remind the pupils about the Individuals 15
project). minutes

2) Dictation: father – mother – brother – sister – son – Individuals

daughter – parents – children
3) Have got (negative form) Individuals
Have you got a sister? => Yes, I have got a sister
(affirmative form)
Have you got a dog? => No, I haven’t got a dog
(negative form)

30
 Have got (negative form) (-)
I / we / you / they + haven’t got
He / she / it + hasn’t got
Examples: They haven’t got books.
He hasn’t got a sister.
4) Short answers
Have you got brothers? => Yes, I have => No, I haven’t
Has he got sisters? => Yes, he has => No, he hasn’t
Individuals
5) Oral drill: Have you got a cat? Brothers? A dog?
Sisters?

Individuals
While-stage Reading comprehension p.8 SB: 15
minutes
1) The pupils read the text again and answer the Individuals
comprehension questions on the handout.

Post-stage Writing: In pairs 15

minutes
Activity 3 p.12:
Ask your classmate about their family and complete the
report on your notebook. Use sampling (Aly Soltane).
Remind the pupils of the project work.

31
 Tunisian Republic Date: 30 – 09 – 2022
Ministry of Education Teacher: Rami Lahyani
Essalem prep. School, El Amra, Sfax Level: 7th form

Module 1 – Section 2: Tell me more about your family (pupils’ hour)

Objectives: - To write a paragraph to introduce someone’s family.
Skills: Speaking – Listening – Writing
Functions: Introducing – Identifying – Asking about age and number - Possession
Grammar: Recycling the newly acquired structures
Lexis: recycling the newly acquired lexis
Project work: Draw your family tree and introduce yourself and your family members.
Teaching aids: activity book – visuals – handouts
Interaction patterns: Teacher-student + student-student

Suggested procedure:

Stage Activity Pupils’ Timing

organization
Pre-stage 1) Crossword puzzle: The pupils solve a crossword puzzle In groups 15
minutes
related to family members. (handout)

2) Short answers: The pupils use short answers to answer

questions. (handout)

3) Activity 2 p. 5 activity book: The pupils reorder the words

to get coherent sentences and questions.

4) Have got in the affirmative and the negative form: The

pupils complete the sentences with have got, has got,

haven’t got, and hasn’t got. (handout)

32
While-stage 1) The pupils listen to a passage and complete the missing In groups 15
minutes
information in the family tree. (handout)

2) The pupils use the family tree to complete the missing words

in some sentences (handout).

3) The pupils use the family tree to answer some questions (age

and number). (handout).

Transition
Post-stage Writing: In groups 15
minutes
The pupils reinvest the acquired knowledge to introduce
Ahlem’s family (from the listening passage).
The teacher assigns a group to write the paragraph on a large
sheet of paper to be displayed on the board. Using peer-
assessment, all the pupils participate in labelling and
correcting the mistakes.
The teacher reminds the pupils of the project work.

33
 Tunisian Republic Date: 03 – 10 – 2022

Ministry of Education Teacher: Rami Lahyani

Essalem prep. School, El Amra, Sfax Level: 7th form

Module 1 – Section 3: What are your hobbies? (Session 1)

Objectives: To speak about hobbies – to ask wh questions - to express likes

Speaking test: Introduce yourself and your family.

Skills: Speaking – Reading – Speaking

Functions: Expressing likes – Asking giving information

Grammar: Simple present – like / enjoy / love – to be (affirmative form) – wh questions

Lexis: enjoy – swimming – hobby – pastime – favourite – cycling

Teaching aids: student’s book – activity book – worksheets – visuals

Interaction patterns: Teacher-student + student-student

Suggested procedure:

Stage Activity Pupils’ Timing

organization
Speaking test Introduce yourself and your family. Individuals 2
minutes

Lead in What do you do at home with your brothers and sisters? => playing video games, playing
football …
What do we call these activities? => Hobbies – pastimes => Section 3: What are your
hobbies?
Draw their attention to singular vs plural (hobby vs hobbies)
Pre-stage 1) What is your favourite hobby / pastime? => My favourite Individuals 15
pastime is …… minutes

When do you practise your hobbies? => In my free time, I

enjoy listening to music
Aly plays football in his spare time.

34
 2) Activity 2 p.15: The pupils practise the use of expressing
likes orally. Then, the teacher elicits the rule:
I like ♥
I enjoy ♥♥ + verb +ing / noun = Expressing likes
I love ♥♥♥
Examples: I love football – I enjoy cycling
n v+ing
Oral drill: What’s your hobby? => I …

While-stage 1) Activity 1 page 13 SB: Read and complete the captions. Individuals 15
2) In which tense are the coloured verbs conjugated? => The minutes

simple present
The teacher reviews the rule: I / We / You / They + verb
He / She / It + verb + s
Examples: They enjoy dancing – He loves reading
3) The teacher asks the pupils if they can apply the rule on verb
to be. => No
The teacher then introduces verb to be in the simple present
in the affirmative form. (+)
Verb to be in the simple present:
I am We/you/they are He/she/it is
Post-stage Speaking: In pairs 15
minutes
Pupil A asks about favourite hobbies. Pupil B expresses likes
(reverse roles)

35
 Tunisian Republic Date: 04 – 10 – 2022

Ministry of Education Teacher: Rami Lahyani

Essalem prep. School, El Amra, Sfax Level: 7th form

Module 1 – Section 3: What are your hobbies? (Session 2)

Objective: To write a short paragraph about one’s favourite pastimes.

Speaking test: Pupil A asks pupil B about their favourite hobby – Pupil B answers while
expressing likes

Skills: Speaking – Reading – Writing

Functions: Asking / giving information

Grammar: To be (negative and interrogative forms)

Lexis: cooking – drawing – singing – surfing the net

Teaching aids: student’s book – activity book – worksheets – visuals

Interaction patterns: Teacher-student + student-student

Suggested procedure:

Stage Activity Pupils’ Timing

organization
Speaking test Pupil A asks pupil B about their favourite hobby – Pupil B In pairs 2
answers while expressing likes minutes

Pre-stage 1) Review: What’s your favourite hobby? Individuals 15

2) Vocabulary review: The pupils label the pictures with the minutes

appropriate hobbies. (handout)

3) Activity 3 p.16 SB: Oral practice: The pupils practise the In pairs
use of wh questions – expressing likes – to be in the
interrogative and negative forms.
a. First, the teacher puts an emphasis on short answers.
Is tennis your only pastime? => Yes, it is (affirmative)
=> No, it isn’t (negative)
=> short answers

36
 b. Then, the teacher focuses on the negative and interrogative
forms of verb to be in the simple present. He asks the
pupils to go back to the table from the previous session to
complete it.
(-) Negative form: I am not - We/you/they are not – He /
she / it is not
e.g: I’m not a teacher - They aren’t at home

(?) Interrogative form: Am I … ? Are we/you/they …?

Is he/she/it …?
e.g: Are you a pupil? - Is he at school?
4) Activity 4 p.11 AB: The pupils practise the use of the new
Individuals
forms of verb to be in the simple present.
While-stage Reading comprehension: (handout) Individuals 15
The pupils read the text and answer the questions. minutes

1) Write true or false.

2) Write the name of the person under the hobby.

Post-stage Writing: Individuals 15

minutes
The pupils reinvest the acquired knowledge to write a short
paragraph about their favourite pastimes.

37
 Tunisian Republic Date: 07 – 10 – 2022

Ministry of Education Teacher: Rami Lahyani

Essalem prep. School, El Amra, Sfax Level: 7th form

Module 1 – Section 3: What are your hobbies? (pupils’ hour)

Objective: To write a report about one’s group members’ hobbies.

Skills: Speaking – Writing

Functions: Recycling the acquired functions.

Grammar: Recycling the acquired structures.

Lexis: Recycling the acquired lexis.

Teaching aids: student’s book – activity book – worksheets – visuals

Interaction patterns: Teacher-student + student-student

Suggested procedure:

Stage Activity Pupils’ Timing

organization
Pre-stage 1) Miming game: One group member picks out a flashcard In groups 15
minutes
containing a hobby and mimes it to their group members.

The group with most guessed answers is the winner.

2) Dictation: enjoy – swimming – hobby – favourite – pastime

Individuals
– cycling – cartoons – listening

While-stage 1) Activity 1 p.9 AB: The pupils practise the use of verb to be In groups 15
minutes
in the simple present.

2) The pupils complete the sentences with verb to be in the

simple present in the affirmative, negative and interrogative

forms. (handout)

38
 3) Short answers oral practice: The teacher uses the

questions from the previous activity to make the pupils Individuals

practise the use of the short answers (verb to be).

4) The pupils put the bracketed verbs in the simple present.

In groups

Post-stage Writing: In groups 15

minutes
Activity 4 p.19 SB:
Group members interview each other about their favourite
pastimes. Then, each group member writes a report about their
group members’ favourite hobbies. The teacher makes sure
that group members interview each other in English while
reinvesting their acquired knowledge. The teacher encourages
peer-assessment and assigns some pupils to read their reports.

39
 2. 9th form

Tunisian Republic Date: 20 – 09 – 2022

Ministry of Education Teacher: Rami Lahyani

Essalem prep. School, El Amra, Sfax Level: 9th form

Module 1 – Lesson 1: Family Relationships (Session 1)

Objective: To speak about one’s family.

Skills: Speaking – Reading – Speaking

Function: Describing

Lexis: supportive – severe – easy-going – fighting – miserable – divorce – orphanage – to

afford.

Teaching aids: student’s book – activity book – worksheets – visuals

Interaction patterns: Teacher-student + student-student

Suggested procedure:

Stage Activity Pupils’ Timing

organization
Pre-stage 1) The teacher shows the pupils a picture of an extended Individuals 15
family. To review vocabulary, he asks them: “Who is X to minutes

Y?” => X is Y’s ………………

2) The teacher asks the pupils to open their student’s book on
page 7 and compare the family on the board to the one in the
book (4). => Extended family vs nuclear family. He then
asks them to label the other families.
3) The teacher gives the pupils handouts containing captions
which they have to label as happy or sad family lives.
Transition Three teenagers are going to tell us about their family lives. What is the meaning of
teenager?
13 <age<19

40
While-stage Reading comprehension p.8 SB: Individuals 15
minutes
1) Do these teenagers have happy or sad family lives? Justify
with details from the text.
2) The pupils work on activity 2 p.7 (AB).

Post-stage Speaking: Individuals 15

minutes
The pupils are asked to speak about their families:
Describe your family (nuclear – extended – family members)
How is your family life? (happy – sad) Why?
How is your relationship with your parents and siblings?

41
 Tunisian Republic Date: 23 – 09 – 2022

Ministry of Education Teacher: Rami Lahyani

Essalem prep. School, El Amra, Sfax Level: 9th form

Module 1 – Lesson 1: Family Relationships (Session 2)

Objective: To introduce a sibling and speak about one’s relationship with them.

Speaking test: Describe your family and your family life (extended, nuclear, relationships,
happy, sad)

Skills: Speaking – Reading – Speaking

Function: Asking questions - Describing

Grammar: Question words

Lexis: supportive – severe – easy-going – fighting – miserable – divorce – orphanage – to

afford.

Teaching aids: student’s book – activity book – worksheets – visuals

Interaction patterns: Teacher-student + student-student

Suggested procedure:

Stage Activity Pupils’ Timing

organization
Speaking test Describe your family and your family life (extended, nuclear, Individuals 2
relationships, happy, sad) minutes

Pre-stage 1) Lead in: The teacher uses the speaking test as a transition to Individuals 15
ask the pupils about their families and family lives to review minutes

some lexis. Do you live a happy family life? Justify.

2) Review: There are 2 types of families. What are they?
While-stage Reading comprehension p.8 SB Individuals 20
minutes
1) Read the texts again and work on activity 1 p.7 AB.
2) The pupils work on activity 2 p.7 AB.
3) The teacher introduces the grammar point (Question words)
from the handout.

42
 4) The pupils practise the use of the question words (handout).

Post-stage Speaking: Individuals 10

minutes
Introduce one of your siblings and describe your relationship
with them.

43
 Tunisian Republic Date: 26 – 09 – 2022

Ministry of Education Teacher: Rami Lahyani

Essalem prep. School, El Amra, Sfax Level: 9th form

Module 1 – Lesson 1: Family Relationships (Pupils’ hour)

Objective: To write a paragraph to describe someone’s family life.

Skills: Speaking – Listening – Writing

Function: Asking questions - Describing

Grammar: Question words

Lexis: supportive – severe – easy-going – fighting – miserable – divorce – orphanage – to

afford.

Teaching aids: worksheets – visuals

Interaction patterns: Teacher-student + student-student

Suggested procedure:

Stage Activity Pupils’ Timing

organization
Pre-stage 1) Word search: Find words related to family life. (handout) In groups 15
minutes
Use the words to label the pictures. (handout)

2) Crossword puzzle: Solve the puzzle about family

relationships.

While-stage Time for a song: (handout) The pupils listen to the song and: In groups 15
minutes

1) Complete the missing lyrics.

2) Choose the correct option.

3) Fill in the blanks.

4) Answer the questions:

What is the message that the singer is trying to convey?

44
 (Write one sentence)
The girl is afraid of something. What is it?
What are the main causes of parents’ separation?

Post-stage Writing: In groups 15

minutes
With the help of some visuals, the pupils describe orally
Kate’s family life.
The pupils use the gathered ideas to write a paragraph about
Kate’s family life.
The teacher sticks the paragraph of the assigned group on the
board and paves the way for peer-assessment. All the pupils
take part in labelling and correcting the mistakes.

45
 Tunisian Republic Date: 27 – 09 – 2022

Ministry of Education Teacher: Rami Lahyani

Essalem prep. School, El Amra, Sfax Level: 9th form

Module 1 – Lesson 2: Sharing family responsibilities (Session 1)

Objective: To describe the different chores that family members do and compare them in
terms of difficulty

Speaking test: Show a picture of a sad teenager: “can you guess why this teenager lives a sad
family life?”

Skills: Speaking – Listening – Speaking

Functions: Comparing – Describing

Grammar: the comparative – the superlative – short/long adjectives

Lexis: to cook – to feed – to rock – role – close – to bring up – exciting – demanding – to

look after

Teaching aids: student’s book – activity book – worksheets – visuals

Interaction patterns: Teacher-student + student-student

Suggested procedure:

Stage Activity Pupils’ Timing

organization
Speaking test Show the pupil a picture of a sad teenager and ask them: “can Individuals 2
you guess why this teenager lives a sad family life?” minutes

Pre-stage 1) Lead in: What makes a family life sad? => fighting, parents Individuals 15
can’t afford expenses, divorce, orphan… minutes

What makes a family life happy?

Transition: In order to live a happy family life, family
members must share family responsibilities
2) What do we mean by sharing family responsibilities? Can
you name some of them?
We also call them house chores.
3) Label the house chores. (handout)

46
 4) Do Tunisian husbands help with the house chores?

Transition We’re going to listen to a passage and see if the husband helps his wife.

While-stage Listening comprehension: Individuals 20

minutes
1) Listening for gist: Who are the family members? Does John
help his wife in the house chores?
2) How does John feel about his role? => “…a closer
relationship…”
What do we call this form? => Comparative form.
3) Grammar point:
The teacher shows the pupils a visual containing 3 men and
asks them to compare their heights.
The teacher listens to some answers and elicits the rule.
If John is taller than Peter and Adam, so he is the…..? =>
the tallest
What do we call this form? => the superlative form.
4) The teacher gives the pupils handouts to fill in with the rules
and deal with some exceptions.
The teacher reminds the pupils what a short adjective is and
what a long adjective is.
Post-stage Speaking: Individuals 10
minutes
Do you share family responsibilities at home?
What chores do you do at home? Which chores are the most
difficult and which chores are the easiest? Who does these
chores?

47
 Tunisian Republic Date: 30 – 09 – 2022

Ministry of Education Teacher: Rami Lahyani

Essalem prep. School, El Amra, Sfax Level: 9th form

Module 1 – Lesson 2: Sharing family responsibilities (Session 2)

Objective: To write a paragraph to describe the chores each family member does.

Speaking test: Do you share family responsibilities at home? Which chores do you do?
Which are the easiest? Which are the most difficult?

Skills: Speaking – Listening – Writing

Functions: Comparing – Describing

Grammar: the comparative – the superlative – short/long adjectives

Lexis: to cook – to feed – to rock – role – close – to bring up – exciting – demanding – to

look after

Teaching aids: student’s book – activity book – worksheets – visuals

Suggested procedure:

Stage Activity Pupils’ Timing

organization
Speaking test Do you share family responsibilities at home? Which chores do Individuals 2
you do? Which are the easiest? Which are the most difficult? minutes

Pre-stage 1) Lead in: What chores do your family members do at home? Individuals 15
Who does what? minutes

Who helps more? Who is the most helpful? The teacher

writes some of the pupils’ answers.
The teacher asks the pupils to identify the forms =>
superlative and comparative. He asks them to remind him of
the rules.
2) Activity p.14 AB: The pupils practise the use of the
superlative and comparative forms.

48
 3) The teacher highlights the exceptions in these forms:
Doubling the consonant => one vowel and one consonant at
the end of the adjective
e.g: hot – big – fat
Adjectives that end with “y” => always remove the “y” and
add “ier”
e.g: happy – crazy – friendly
Transition The teacher asks the pupils if they remember the husband from the listening passage of the
first session. He asks them if he helps with the house chores. The teacher tells the pupils to
listen and answer the questions.
While-stage Listening comprehension: Individuals 15
minutes
1) Activity b p.11 student’s book: Listen and choose the
correct alternative
2) The pupils work on step 3: The pupils have to pick out 2
comparatives from the passage.
3) The pupils work on activity 2 p.12 AB: What do the
expressions mean in the passage?
4) The teacher gives the pupils handouts to fill in with the rules
and deal with some exceptions.
The teacher reminds the pupils what a short adjective is and
what a long adjective is.
Post-stage 1) The pupils work on activity 2 p.14 AB: The pupils use the Individuals 15
action verbs in the box and use them to make sentences by minutes

ordering the subjects and the objects.

2) Writing:
The pupils use the input from the previous activity to write a
short paragraph about the different chores their family members
do.

49
Tunisian Republic Date: 03 – 10 – 2022

Ministry of Education Teacher: Rami Lahyani

Essalem prep. School, El Amra, Sfax Level: 9th form

Module 1 – Lesson 2: Sharing family responsibilities (pupils’ hour)

Objective: To write a paragraph about the importance of sharing family responsibilities.

Skills: Speaking – Listening – Writing

Functions: Comparing – Describing

Grammar: recycling the newly acquired structures

Lexis: recycling the newly acquired lexis

Teaching aids: activity book – worksheets – visuals

Interaction patterns: Teacher-student + student-student

Suggested procedure:

Stage Activity Pupils’ Timing

organization
Pre-stage 1) Miming game: Each time, one group member has to In groups 15
minutes
mime the house chore and the other members have to

guess it. The group with the most correct answers is the

winner.

2) Complete the captions: The pupils have to complete

captions (handouts) about the importance of sharing

family responsibilities.

3) Review the superlative and comparative forms: The

pupils practise the use of superlatives and comparatives

(handouts).

50
While-stage 1) Time for a song: The pupils listen to a song and In groups 15
minutes
complete its lyrics with the appropriate superlative and

comparative forms. (handout)

2) The pupils complete the missing adjectives,

comparatives, and superlatives in the table. (handout)

3) The group members have to stand in line, run, and

derive the comparatives of the corresponding adjectives:

popular – young – dangerous – good – short – hot –

cold – large – small – bad – safe – pretty

4) Class debate: Why is sharing family responsibilities

important? The pupils brainstorm some ideas that they

will use in the writing activity.

Post-stage Writing: In groups 15

minutes
Some Tunisians believe that the house chores are the duty
of the mothers and that they don’t have to share the house
responsibilities. Write a short article to convince them to
change their attitude and be more helpful around the
house.
The pupils work in groups. The teacher assigns one group
to write the article on a big paper to be displayed later on
the board. Through peer-assessment, all the pupils
participate in labelling and correcting the mistakes.

51
 Tunisian Republic Date: 03 – 10 – 2022

Ministry of Education Teacher: Rami Lahyani

Essalem prep. School, El Amra, Sfax Level: 9th form

Module 1 – Lesson 3: The Generation Gap (Session 1)

Objective: To speak about conflicts with one’s parents and suggest possible solutions.

Speaking test: What house chores do you help with? Why should we share family
responsibilities?

Skills: Speaking – Reading – Speaking

Function: Comparing

Lexis: To agree – To argue – embarrassed – to break (rules) – dog-headed – to sneak out –

conservative – open-minded

Teaching aids: student’s book – activity book – worksheets – visuals

Interaction patterns: Teacher-student + student-student

Suggested procedure:

Stage Activity Pupils’ Timing

organization
Speaking test What house chores do you help with? Why should we share Individuals 2
family responsibilities? minutes

Pre-stage 1) Lead-in: The teacher shows the pupils pictures depicting the Individuals 15
theme of generation gap and asks them: minutes

How is the relationship? Is there agreement or

disagreement? What is the cause?
=> Generation gap
2) Speaking: Do you have conflicts with your parents? What
do you disagree about? The teacher tells the pupils to have a
look at activity page 14 as it may help them. The teacher
writes some of the answers.
e.g: My parents don’t approve of my school results / my

52
 friends / the way I dress …
Do you think that your parents hate you and don’t care about
you?
=> They are overprotective / conservative =/= open-minded
3) The pupils label the pictures of vocabulary that will figure in
the text. (handout)
Transition We’re going to read a text about a teenager who has some problems with her parents.

While-stage Reading comprehension p.16 SB: Individuals 20

minutes
1) The pupils work on step 1 p.17 SB: Circle the right
alternative. (Reading for gist)
2) The pupils read the text and fill in the table with information In pairs
from the text (handout):
Text type
Jane’s parents are …
Jane is ….
Jane’s reaction: 1/ 2/ 3/ 4/
Post-stage Speaking: Individuals 10
minutes
Have you ever had a similar problem? How did you behave?
What might be the best solution to solve the conflict?

53
Tunisian Republic Date: 04 – 10 – 2022

Ministry of Education Teacher: Rami Lahyani

Essalem prep. School, El Amra, Sfax Level: 9th form

Module 1 – Lesson 3: The Generation Gap (session 2)

Objective: To write a letter to Jane or to her parents to give them pieces of advice to solve
their problems.

Speaking test: What are the causes of conflicts between parents and their children?

Skills: Speaking – Reading – Writing

Function: Giving advice

Grammar: Compound adjectives

Lexis: advise – pieces of advice – should

Teaching aids: student’s book – activity book – worksheets – visuals

Interaction patterns: Teacher-student + student-student

Suggested procedure:

Stage Activity Pupils’ Timing

organization
Speaking test What are the causes of conflicts between parents and their Individuals 2
children? minutes

Pre-stage 1) Review: What are the causes of conflicts between Individuals 15

parents and their children? minutes

2) Speaking: How can parents and children agree and solve

their conflicts?
First, I listen to some answers. Then, I write some
answers on the board. I highlight the expressions
“should” and “I advise” and their function: giving advice.
e.g: Children should talk with their parents calmly.
I advise parents to listen more to their children and try to
understand them.
Children should be polite and respectful.

54
Transition Do you remember Jane? What was her problem? We’re going to read the text again and
answer some questions.
While-stage Reading comprehension p.16 SB: Individuals 15
minutes
1) Activity 2 p.16 AB: What do you advise Jane to do?
2) Grammar point: Step 1 p.18 SB:
high-heeled shoes => Compound adjective
The teacher highlights the fact that the first part provides
more information.
3) The teacher gives the pupils handouts which they have to
fill with the rules of compound adjectives and some
examples. The teacher starts with the examples and helps
the pupils elicit the rules.
4) The pupils practise the use of compound adjectives by
working on activity 1 p.17 AB.
Post-stage Writing: 15
minutes
1) The teacher gives the pupils handouts containing pieces In pairs
of advice which they have to sort out as to be given to
Jane or to her parents.
2) The teacher asks the pupils to write a letter to either Jane
Individuals
or the parents to give them pieces of advice to solve the
conflict. The teacher listens to some examples and
encourages peer-assessment.

55
 Tunisian Republic Date: 06 – 10 – 2022

Ministry of Education Teacher: Rami Lahyani

Essalem prep. School, El Amra, Sfax Level: 9th form

Module 1 – Lesson 3: The Generation Gap (pupils’ hour)

Objective: To enact a part of a TV programme in which group members (the parent, the
child, and the TV presenter) discuss the issue of generation gap.

Skills: Speaking – Reading

Function: Recycling the acquired functions

Grammar: Recycling the acquired grammatical structures

Lexis: Recycling the acquired lexis

Teaching aids: activity book – worksheets – visuals

Interaction patterns: Teacher-student + student-student

Suggested procedure:

Stage Activity Pupils’ Timing

organization
Pre-stage 3) The pupils match expressions with their nearest meaning In groups 15
minutes
(handout) (recycling vocabulary).

4) The pupils complete a table with the different forms of the

acquired lexis (verbs – nouns – adjectives) (handout).

5) The pupils practise the use of the superlative and

comparative forms. (handout)

While-stage 5) The pupils label some definitions in a handout with their In groups 15
minutes
corresponding compound adjectives.

56
 6) The pupils use the compound adjectives from the previous

activity to complete utterances about the theme of generation

gap. (handout)

7) Class debate: what are the causes of conflict between

parents and children?

Who is right? Who is wrong?

How can they solve their problems?

Transition We’re going to invite some parents and their children to a TV programme to talk about
their problems and to give them some solutions.
Post-stage Role-play: In groups 15
minutes
The pupils enact a part of a TV programme where the parents
and the children talk about their problems and the TV
presenter guides the discussion and gives them advice.

57
IV. Using Assessment in the Classroom
1. Formative assessment
a) Teaching context

I teach English to 7th and 9th form students at Essalem Prep. School, El Amra, Sfax. My
two 7th form classes are made up of 23 pupils each, and my two 9th form classes are made up of
28 pupils each. My 7th form pupils are aged between 12 and 15 years, whereas my 9th form
pupils are aged between 14 and 17 years. 35% of the pupils in my 7th form classes are boys,
while the remaining majority are girls. As for the 9th form classes, 74% of the pupils are girls,
while the remaining minority are boys. The pupils’ proficiency level might range between
beginner and intermediate levels.

The pupils make use of two manuals, namely the “student’s book” and the “activity
book”. I also resort to handouts, visuals, and ICT when necessary. The pupils are required to sit
for two exams during each term, namely a mid-term test and a full-term test at the end of the
term. The pupils attend three one-hour English sessions every week. Two sessions are devoted
to teach lessons while the remaining hour is dedicated to recycle what has been taught in a fun
and amusing way. That is why it is usually referred to as the “pupils’ hour”. Apart from the
pupils’ hour, I always start my sessions with a speaking test in order to assess the pupils’
understanding and also to motivate the pupils to be always up to date. Every pupil is required
to bring their manuals, a well-maintained notebook, and a portfolio in which they store their
projects, their exam papers, and the writing activities that are done in groups during the pupils’
hour. I assign oral marks based on the speaking test, the portfolio, and the participation during
the sessions.

b) Areas of assessment to improve

In this research, I will focus on improving my pupils’ writing skills and their use of
English grammar. In the next section, I will demonstrate some of the activities that served as
formative assessment and enabled my students to be well-equipped and ready for the summative
assessment.

c) Activities that were used to pave the way for summative assessment with
samples of some students’ handiwork
i. 7th form

58
 The first mid-term test was about the first three sections of unit 1, namely “Tell me about
your family”, “Tell me more about your family”, and “What are your hobbies?”. To make my
students ready for the test, I implemented several techniques of formative assessment that we
talked about in the theoretical part.

Module 1 – Section 1: Tell me about your family

In section 1 “Tell me about your family”, the objectives were “to write a paragraph to
introduce oneself” in the first session, and “to write a paragraph to introduce oneself and one’s
family” in the pupils’ hour. To reach these terminal objectives, the pupils had to go through
several enabling objectives. First, the pupils had to be able to use three functions which are
greeting, introducing self, and introducing others. In addition, the pupils needed to master the
use of demonstratives, verb to be, and subject pronouns. Moreover, the pupils had to acquire
lexical items that are related to family.

To assess the learners’ ability to use the demonstratives appropriately, I resorted to an

oral drill in the pre-stage of the first session (20-09-2022). Indeed, I assigned as many students
as I could to introduce one classmate, then to introduce two classmates. This way, I made sure
that they differentiate between “this is” and “these are”. In addition, during the pupils’ hour
(23-09-2022), I made use of other activities to assess their understanding. In the pre-stage of
the pupils’ hour, I resorted to a picture-cued task in which the pupils had to introduce several
entities:

59
 Again, I made use of a “grammatical transformation task” in the activity book, which
allowed me not only to assess the use of demonstratives, but also subject pronouns and verb to
be:

60
 To further assess the use of verb to be, I made use of a gap-filling activity in the activity
book (page 2) in which the pupils fill the gaps with verb to be in the simple present:

To assess the pupils’ acquisition of the lexical items related to family, I made use of a
“picture-cued task”. I showed the pupils Aly’s family tree and pointed to the family members
while asking them: “Who is this?”

61
 In the post-stage of the first session, to assess the pupils’ ability to use the function of
“introducing oneself”, I resorted to a “sentence completion task” within the “intensive writing
category”. The students had to work on activity 3 on page 7 in the student’s book to introduce
themselves:

Here is a sample of one of the pupils’ writings. The pupil is Dhiya Bahri

In the post-stage of the pupils’ hour, to assess the pupils’ ability to use “introducing
oneself” and “introducing others”, I resorted to a “grammatical transformation task” within the
“intensive writing category”. I gave the pupils a paragraph in which a girl introduces herself
and her family. I asked the pupils to write a similar paragraph to introduce themselves and their
families:

62
Here are some samples of two of the pupils’ final products. The pupils are Abir Mselmi and
Malek Mselmi

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Module 1 – Section 2: Tell me more about your family

I divided this section into two sessions. The objective of the first session (26-09-2022)
was “to ask and answer about age and number”. The objective of the second session (27-09-
2022) was “to write a report about a classmate’s family”. The objective of the pupils’ hour (30-
09-2022) was “to write a paragraph to introduce someone’s family”. To reach these terminal
objectives, the pupils had to go through a series of enabling objectives. First, the pupils needed
to master the use of “possession”. Then, the pupils had to be able to “ask about age and number”.
The pupils also needed more lexical items related to the family. Furthermore, the pupils had to
be able to use short answers.

To check that these objectives had been met, the pupils underwent several tasks of
formative assessment. To make sure that the pupils are able to ask about age and number, I
made use of an oral drill in the while-stage of the first session. The pupils worked in pairs on
activity 2 on page 10 in the student’s book. They had to ask and answer orally about age and
number while using information about themselves:

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 In the post-stage of the first session, the pupils work in pairs to ask and answer questions
about age and number related to family members.

To assess the pupils’ ability to use possession in the affirmative and negative forms, I
made use of an oral drill during the pre-stage of the second session of this section. I asked as
many pupils as I could these questions: “Have you got a cat?” “Have you got brothers?”
“Have you got a dog?” “Have you got a sister?”

In this way, I was able to check if the pupils were able to use possession in both the
affirmative and negative form. In addition, during the pre-stage of the pupils’hour, I deployed
a gap-filling activity in which the pupils had to complete sentences with “has got”, “have got”,
“hasn’t got”, and “haven’t got” according to the context:

To check the pupils’ ability to use short answers, I made use of the aforementioned
oral drill in the pre-stage of the second session. I also used a “sentence completion task”
during the pre-stage of the pupils’ hour. I gave the pupils handouts containing questions
which they had to answer using short answers:

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To make sure that the pupils acquired correctly the lexical items, I used the same family tree
from the previous section as a “picture-cued task” in the pre-stage of the first session. In
addition, I made use of a dictation to assess the spelling of the newly acquired lexis during the
pre-stage of the second session: (father – mother – brother – sister – son – daughter – parents –
children). Moreover, during the pre-stage of the pupils’ hour, I deployed a crossword puzzle
about family members which the pupils had to solve:

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I also made use of a listening activity in the while-stage of the pupils’ hour to check the pupils’
understanding of the different connections between family members. I read a listening script
while they had to complete the family tree of the speaker. The script was as follows:

“Hello! My name is Ahlem. I’m eight years old, and this is my family tree. I have got two
brothers, Tarak and Ayman. Tarak is eleven years old and Ayman is thirteen years old. These
are my parents. Souad is my mother and Rachid is my father. My grandparents are Sadok and
Beya. I love my family so much!”

This is the handout containing the family tree:

In the post-stage of the second session, to assess the pupils’ acquisition of the new functions,
grammatical structures, and lexical items, I instructed the pupils to work on activity 3 on page
12 in the student’s book. In pairs, the pupils had to ask and answer about age, number, and
possession in relation to their family members to write a report about their classmate’s family.

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Here is a sample produced by one of the pupils:

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In the post-stage of the pupils’ hour, I assessed the pupils’ acquired knowledge by making use
of a “paragraph construction task”. I instructed the pupils to write a paragraph to introduce the
family of Ahlem, the speaker in the listening activity from the while-stage of the pupils’ hour.

Here is a sample of one of the pupils’ paragraphs. The pupil is Abir Mselmi:

To check if the different objectives had been met, I assigned a project work activity in which
the pupils had to draw their family trees and introduce their family members:

Here is a sample produced by one of the pupils. The pupil is Islem Lounissi:
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Here is a sample produced by one of the pupils. The pupil is Islem Lounissi:

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Module 1 – Section 3: What are your hobbies?

I divided this section into two sessions. The objective of the first session (03-10-2022) was “to
speak about hobbies”. The objective of the second session (04-10-2022) was “to write a short
paragraph about one’s favourite pastimes”. The objective of the pupils’ hour (07-10-2022) was
“to write a report about one’s group members’ hobbies”. The enabling objectives that the pupils
had to go through to reach the terminal objectives include the ability to express likes, the ability
to ask and give information, the capacity to use the simple present, the ability to use verb to be
in the three different forms, and the capacity to use wh questions. The pupils also needed to
acquire lexical items related to hobbies and expressing likes.

To assess the pupils’ mastery of expressing likes, I made use of an oral drill during the pre-
stage of the first session. I asked as many pupils as I could “what’s your hobby?” The pupils
had to answer while using I like / I enjoy / I love …

To check the pupils’ acquisition of lexical items related to hobbies, I made use of a “picture-
cued task”. I instructed the pupils to work on activity 1 on page 13 in the student’s book during
the while-stage of the first session. The pupils had to complete the captions with the appropriate
hobbies with the help of the visuals:

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In addition, I made use of another “picture-cued task” in the pre-stage of the second session to
review the newly acquired vocabulary. The pupils had to match the pictures with the
corresponding hobbies:

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Moreover, to make sure that the pupils completely got the gist of hobbies both in terms of form
and meaning, I made use of two activities during the pre-stage of the pupils’ hour. First, I started
with a miming activity. One group member had to pick out a flashcard containing a hobby and
to mime it to their group members. The group with the most correct answers is the winner.
Then, to assess the pupils’ spelling of the new lexical items I conducted a dictation: (enjoy –
swimming – hobby – favourite – pastime – cycling – cartoons – listening).

To assess the pupils’ mastery of the use of the simple present, I resorted to a “grammatical
transformation” task during the while-stage of the pupils’ hour. The pupils had to put the
bracketed verbs in the simple present.

I put an emphasis on the importance of adding “s” to verbs with he/she/it with the exception of
some verbs like “to have”.

To evaluate the pupils’ mastery of using verb to be in the affirmative, negative, and interrogative
forms, I made use of an oral drill during the pre-stage of the second session. In fact, the pupils
had to imitate a dialogue in activity 3 on page 16 in the student’s book. This not only gives the
pupils the opportunity to practise the use of verb to be in its different forms, but also enables
them to practise the use of wh questions and the short answers for verb to be:

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In addition, I resorted to a “sentence completion task” in the pre-stage of the second session.
The pupils had to complete dialogues with the right form of verb to be in activity 4 on page 11
in the activity book:

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Furthermore, I resorted to a multiple-choice task in the while-stage of the pupils’ hour. The
pupils worked on activity 1 on page 9 in the activity book. They had to circle the right form of
verb to be in the simple present:

To be completely sure that the pupils had mastered the use of verb to be in the affirmative,
negative, and interrogative forms, I made use of a “sentence completion task” during the while-
stage of the pupils’ hour. Indeed, they had to fill in the blanks with the right form of verb to be
with different subjects:

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In the post-stage of the first session, I assessed the pupils’ ability of using wh questions and
expressing likes in order to speak about hobbies. In pairs, pupils asked about favourite hobbies
and answered while expressing likes.

In the post-stage of the second session, I made use of the “sentence completion task” technique
within the “intensive writing category” to make the pupils reinvest the acquired knowledge to
write about their favourite pastimes:

Here is a sample by one of the pupils. The pupil is Dhiyaa Bahri.

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In the post-stage of the pupils’ hour, I also made use of a “sentence completion task” as
controlled writing. The pupils worked on activity 4 on page 19 in the student’s book. Group
members had to reinvest the acquired knowledge to interview each other about their favourite
pastimes in order to write a report about one’s group members’ hobbies:

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 ii. 9th form

The first mid-term test was about the first three lessons from unit 1 “Family Life”,
namely “Family relationships”, “Sharing family responsibilities”, and “The generation gap”.
Normally, the first mid-term test would include a listening comprehension section and a
language section. However, for the sake of this research, and since writing is one of the areas
of assessment to improve, I decide to include a writing section instead of the listening
comprehension section.

Module 1 – Lesson 1: Family Relationships

I covered this lesson throughout three sessions. The objective of the first session (20-09-2022)
was “to speak about one’s family”. The objective of the second session (23-09-2022) was “to
introduce a sibling and speak about one’s relationship with them”. The objective of the pupils’
hour (26-09-2022) was “to write a paragraph to describe someone’s family life”.

To achieve these terminal objectives, the pupils had to go through several enabling objectives.
First, the pupils needed to identify different family types. They also had to be able to distinguish
between what makes a family life happy and what makes a family life a sad one. Then, they
needed to be able to use the functions of asking questions and describing. Moreover, the pupils
had to master the use of question words. In addition, the pupils needed to acquire new lexical
items related to family life.

To see whether these objectives had been met, the pupils underwent a series of formative
assessment tasks. To check the pupils’ understanding of the different family relationships and
the different family types, I made use of “picture-cued tasks”. Indeed, during the pre-stage of
the first session, I showed the pupils a family tree of an extended family and pointed out to
different family members while asking “Who is X to Y?” For instance, when asking who is
Helen to Walter, the pupils are expected to answer: “Helen is Walter’s wife”:

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Then, I asked to compare the family on the board (visual) to family 4 in the student’s book on
page 7. With the help of indication in the manual, the pupils were able to distinguish between
a large vs small family and an extended vs nuclear family. In addition, during the pre-stage of
the pupils’ hour, I made use of a “word search” game to further check their understanding of
the different family types. The pupils had to find words in the grid related to family life and
eventually use them to label some pictures. This activity also served to assess the acquisition of
other lexical items:

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To further check the pupils’ acquisition of the new lexical items, I made use of a “crossword
puzzle” game during the pre-stage of the pupils’ hour. The pupils had to solve the puzzle with
the help of a “sentence completion” task:

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To assess the pupils’ understanding of the characteristics of happy and sad family lives, during
the pre-stage of the first session, I gave the pupils captions of teenagers speaking about their
family lives. They had to label these captions as happy or sad family lives:

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I also made use of the reading passage in the student’s book on page 8 during the while-stage
of the first session to see if the pupils could identify the teenagers who had a happy family life
and a sad one, while justifying their answers.

To further check their understanding of what makes a family life happy and what makes it sad,
during the while-stage of the pupils’ hour, I made use of a song by Pink called “family portrait”.
First, I made the pupils listen to the song and complete the lyrics in three different forms
(dictation, multiple-choice, and gap filling). This also allowed me to assess their understanding
of some lexical items in terms of form and meaning. Then, I proceeded by asking the pupils
some comprehension questions to see if they can identify the sadness in this family while
justifying their answers:

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To assess the pupils’ mastery of asking questions and using question words, I made use of a
“sentence completion task” during the while stage of session 2. The pupils had to complete
questions with the appropriate question word:

To further assess their ability to use question words and the “asking questions” function, during
the while-stage of the second session, I resorted to a “sentence completion task” and the “guided
question and answer” technique. I asked the pupils to complete questions with the appropriate
question words and answer these questions. After that, I gave the pupils answers from which
they had to formulate questions:

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In the post-stage of the first session, I assessed the pupils’ understanding of the different family
types and the difference between a happy and sad family life by instructing them to speak about
their families.

In the post-stage of the second session, I made the pupils reinvest the acquired knowledge to
introduce a sibling and describe their relationship with them.

In the post-stage of the pupils’ hour, I made use of a “picture-cued task”, and more specifically
“picture description” within the “intensive writing category” to assess the pupils’ ability to
describe someone’s family life:

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We also used peer-assessment as pupils from the other groups took part in labelling and
correcting the mistakes of the assigned group. Here is the final product of one of the groups:

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Module 1 – Lesson 2: Sharing family responsibilities

I divided this lesson into two parts. The objective of the first session (27-09-2022) was
“to describe the different chores that family members do and compare them in terms of
difficulty”. The objective of the second session (30-09-2022) was “to write a paragraph to
describe the chores each family member does”. The objective of the pupils’ hour (03-10-2022)
was “to write a paragraph about the importance of sharing family responsibilities”.

The pupils had to reach several enabling objectives to be able to achieve the terminal objectives.
In fact, the pupils had to acquire the lexis related to sharing family responsibilities and to be
able to speak about different house chores. In addition, the pupils needed to be able to use the
comparing function and to master the use of the comparative and superlative forms.

To check the pupils’ acquisition of the new lexical items related to family responsibilities, I
made use of a “picture-cued task” in the pre-stage of the first session. I gave the pupils handouts
containing pictures of household chores which they had to label:

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I also made use of class “observations” through a speaking activity during the pre-stage of the
second session. Indeed, I encouraged the pupils to speak about the different house chores that
each family member does in the house. This enabled me to assess their understanding of the
notion of sharing family responsibilities and to evaluate their ability to speak about the different
house chores.

Moreover, during the pre-stage of the pupils’ hour, I made use of a miming game. Indeed, one
group member had to pick out a flashcard containing a house chore and mime it to their group
members so that they can guess it. The group with the most correct answers was the winner.

Furthermore, I resorted to a gap-filling activity during the pre-stage of the pupils’ hour. The
pupils had to complete captions about sharing family responsibilities while using the newly
acquired lexis. These captions also served as a good input for the eventual writing activity about
the importance of sharing family responsibilities:

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To assess the pupils’ mastery of using the comparative and superlative forms, I resorted to a
“grammatical transformation task” during the pre-stage of the second session. Indeed, I
instructed the pupils to write the comparative forms of some adjectives in an activity on page
14 in the activity book. This not only allowed me to assess their understanding, but also paved
the way for introducing further exceptions, notably adjectives that end with “y” and adjectives
that end with a vowel and consonant. In addition, during the pre-stage of the pupils’ hour, I mad
use of two “grammatical transformation” tasks to assess the pupils’ mastery of using the
superlatives and comparatives. I gave the pupils paragraphs which they had to complete with
the right superlative or comparative:

This enabled me to be sure that the pupils could distinguish when to use comparatives and when
to use superlatives. It also enabled me to assess the pupils’ ability to derive the superlatives and
comparatives from long and short adjectives with the various exceptions.

In the post-stage of the first session, I assessed the pupils’ ability to speak about the different
house chores by asking them “What chores do you do at home?” “Which chores are the most
difficult and which chores are the easiest?” “Who does these chores?”

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In the post-stage of the second session, I resorted to an “ordering task” within the “controlled
writing category” to assess the learners’ ability to write about the different house chores and
who does them. I started with activity 2 on page 14 in the activity book. The pupils had to use
action verbs in a box to make sentences by ordering the subjects and the objects:

Then, I asked the pupils to use these sentences to construct a paragraph while using linkers
like “as for”:

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Here is a paragraph produced by one of the pupils. The pupil is Nibel Lasswed:

In the post-stage of the pupils’ hour, I made use of a “paragraph construction task” within the
“extensive writing category” to assess the pupils’ acquired knowledge. Indeed, the pupils were
required to write an article in which they convince their school mates who think that house
chores are the duty of the mother only to change their attitude. It is worth noting that this activity
was preceded by a class debate in the while-stage of the same session about the importance of
sharing family responsibilities, which served as brainstorming to pave the way for the writing
activity:

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Here is the final product by one of the pupils. Her name is Mariem Msalmi:

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Module 1 – Lesson 3: The Generation Gap

I divided this lesson into two sessions. The objective of the first session (03-10-2022) was “to
speak about conflicts with one’s parents and the possible solutions”. The objective of the second
session (catch up session) (04-10-2022) was “to write a letter to a teenager or to her parents to
give them pieces of advice in order to solve their problems”. The objective of the pupils’ hour
(06-10-2022) was “to enact a part of a TV programme in which group members (the parent, the
child, and the TV presenter) discuss the issue of generation gap”.

In order to achieve these terminal objectives, the pupils had to reach several enabling objectives.
In fact, the pupils had to acquire the lexis that would enable them to speak about the issue of
generation gap and more specifically the conflicts between parents and children. In addition,
the pupils had to understand the use of compound adjectives and their different forms.

To assess the pupils’ acquisition of the new lexical items, I mad use of a “picture-cued task”
during the pre-stage of the first session. Indeed, I showed the pupils two pictures related to the
issue of generation gap and let them express their thoughts about them. I wrote some examples
that contained the targeted lexical items:

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In addition, during the pre-stage of the first session, I resorted to another “picture-cued task”,
as the pupils had to label pictures related to the new lexical items:

Moreover, to further assess the pupils’ understanding of the lexical items, I made use of a
matching exercise during the pre-stage of the pupils’ hour. Indeed, the pupils had to match the
lexical items with their nearest synonyms:

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To evaluate the pupils’ mastery of using compound adjectives, I deployed a “grammatical
transformation task” during the while-stage of the second session. Indeed, I instructed the pupils
to work on activity 1 on page 17 in the activity book in which they had to derive the compound
adjective based on its definition:

To further check the pupils’ understanding, I resorted to a matching activity and a “sentence
completion” activity during the while-stage of the pupils’ hour. In fact, I started with giving the
pupils definitions which they have to match with the corresponding compound adjective from
a given list:

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Then, I asked the pupils to complete captions with the compound adjectives from the previous
activity. These captions are about the generation gap which made them serve as a good input
for the eventual role-play activity:

In the post-stage of the first session, I assessed the students’ ability to speak about conflicts
between parents and their children by asking them some questions: “Have you ever had a
similar problem? (as the girl in the text _ on page 16 in the student’s book _ who has problems
with her parents)” “How did you behave?” “What might be the best solution to solve the
conflict?”

In the post-stage of the second session, I gave the pupils’ the freedom to choose to give pieces
of advice to either Jane (the girl who has problems with her parents) or to the parents. To pave
the way for this writing activity, I gave the pupils a table containing pieces of advice which
they have to sort out as to be given to Jane or to her parents:

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Then, I assessed the pupils’ ability to give pieces of advice to solve conflicts between parents
and children through a “grammatical transformation task” within the “intensive category of
writing”. I made sure to refresh the pupils’ memory on how to give advice by eliciting structures
like “you should – shouldn’t – I advise you”. I instructed them to write a letter to either Jane or
to the parents to give them pieces of advice to solve the conflict:

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Here are some samples of the pupils’ final products.

The pupil is Rihab Mabrouk:

The pupil is Amal Haj Amor:

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The pupil is Dhekra Mselmi:

In the post-stage of the pupils’ hour, I assessed the pupils’ acquired knowledge through a role-
play. In groups, the pupils had to enact a part of a TV programme where the parents and the
children talk about their problems and the TV presenter guides the discussion and gives them
advice. It should be noted that this activity was preceded by a class debate in the while-stage of
the same session in which the pupils discussed the following points:

“What are the causes of conflict between parents and children?” “Who is right? Who is wrong?”

“How can they solve their problems?”

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 2. Summative assessment

The Tunisian educational system stipulates that the students sit for two summative tests,
namely the mid-term test and the full-term test. The students are also attributed an oral mark
which is usually based on the speaking test, the portfolio, the notebook, and the participation in
the class among other factors. In this research, we will focus on evaluation in the first half of
the first term, which means we will deal with the mid-term tests for 7th and 9th form students.
The focus in the 7th form test will be on the language component. As for the 9th form test, the
focus will be on the writing component.

a) Test description
i. 7th form

According to the “ongoing evaluation in basic education”, the mid-term test for 7th form
pupils during the first term consists of two main sections, namely language and spelling. 14
marks are attributed to the language section while the remaining 6 marks are attributed to the
spelling section. The language section should contain exercises of the following types:

• Fill in the gaps (5 or 6 items)

• Circle the right options (5 or 6 items)
• Provide the right tense or form of bracketed words
• Match utterances in a short dialogue with the right functions
• Circle the right function (in a dialogue)
• Match sentence parts to get correct sentences
• Reorder sentence parts to get correct sentences (3 or 4 sentences)

Each item is attributed half a point.

The spelling section consists of two exercises. In one of these exercises, the pupils are
required to write the missing words in a text read by the teacher. In the other exercise, the
pupils are expected to write figures or numbers in letters. Each item is also attributed half a
point.

When I began working on the first mid-term test, I started by jotting down on a paper
all the learning objectives, the functions, the lexical items, and the grammatical structures that
the pupils had gone through during this period. This way, I make the test design easier for
myself as I try to cover all the aspects and “specifications”. I am aware of what my pupils are

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supposed to know and I would design my test accordingly. Before the test, we had dealt with
the first three lessons in module 1, namely “tell me about your family”, “tell me more about
your family”, and “what are your hobbies?”.

After that, I chose the types of exercises to be included in the test according to the
paragraphs and materials that I possess which have to be related to the themes of the lessons.
So, I decided that the first language exercise would be “circle the right option”; the second
exercise would be “fill in the gaps”; the third exercise would be “match sentence parts to get
correct sentences”; the fourth exercise would be “reorder sentence parts to get correct
sentences”; and the fifth exercise would be “match utterances in a dialogue with the right
functions”.

The following task was to specify the items. At that moment, I had already decided
what each exercise will be evaluating in terms of objectives, lexical items and grammatical
structures. Each time I deal with a specific lexical item or grammatical structure, I make sure
to tick the lexical item or grammatical structure in the paper on which I noted down what my
students are supposed to be tested on.

I made sure to establish a balance and not to repeat an item twice. I also to tried to make
sure that my test covers as much different items as possible to encompass as much objectives
as possible. When choosing distractions in multiple choice items, I tried to strike a balance to
make the answer neither very obvious nor very difficult, in that the correct alternative is clear
and “unambiguous” and that there is only one acceptable answer. I also try to make the test
accessible for every student, in that the items vary in the degree of difficulty. Indeed, not all of
them are supposed to be easy and not all of them are supposed to be difficulty.

When dealing with the spelling section, I made sure that the selected words had been properly
recycled in terms of form (dictations) and meaning (picture-cued tasks, games, etc…).

After finishing the design of the test, I printed a sample and worked on it myself as if I
were a student. I took my time and checked for possible typing errors or any other issues to
make sure that my exam is clear and valid.

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 ii. 9th form

According to the “ongoing evaluation in basic education”, the mid-term test for 9th form
pupils consists of two main sections, namely listening comprehension and language. For the
sake of this research, as the areas of assessment to be improved include language and writing,
I opted for a mid-term test that consists of two main sections, namely language and writing. 14
marks are allotted to the language part, while the remaining 6 points are allotted to the writing
section (2 marks for content and fluency, 2 marks for vocabulary and grammar, and 2 marks
for punctuation, capitalisation, and spelling).

The language section should contain exercises of the following type:

• Fill in the gaps (5 or 6 items)

• Circle the right options (5 or 6 items)
• Provide the right tense or form of bracketed words
• Match sentence parts to get a coherent paragraph
• Match utterances in a short dialogue with the right functions
• Circle the right function (in a dialogue)

Each item is attributed half a point.

When designing the language section for the 9th form pupils, I followed exactly the
same steps with the test for the 7th form students. Before the test, we had dealt with the first
three lessons in unit 1, namely “family relationships”, “sharing family responsibilities”, and
“the generation gap”.

As for the writing section, I made sure to formulate an activity that the students are
familiar with its theme and linguistic features. I also made sure to formulate a topic that matches
with the objectives that have been thoroughly assessed during the sessions. I opted for the theme
of “sharing family responsibilities”. In this lesson, we had already worked on two writing
activities. One activity was about “describing the chores each family member does”:

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The other activity has to do with “the importance of sharing family responsibilities”

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That is why, I came up with the idea of combining “the different house chores” and “the
importance of sharing family responsibilities” in the writing activity:

“Your classmates refuse to share family responsibilities with their family members. That
is why you decided to write an article in your school magazine to describe how your family
members share the house chores, and to tell your classmates why they should help their family
members with the family responsibilities.”

b) Test samples

Below are the tests that I administered to my 7th and 9th form students with some samples of
my pupils’ performances.

i. 7th form

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 Collège Essalem 7eme année Enseignant: Rami Lahyani

Matière: Anglais Devoir de contrôle №1 (Octobre 2022) Durée: 1 heure

Nom et prénom: ………......................................................................................... Classe: 7eme B………

LANGUAGE ( /14 MARKS)

1) Circle the right alternative. (3 marks)
Hello! My name is Wafa. I (are – is – am) thirteen years old. My favourite hobby is listening
(for – to – of) music. I’ve got two sisters; Amal and Asma (is – am – are) sixteen and nine
years old. (He / She / They) like volleyball and dancing. My mother is a teacher. She (likes /
like / liking) reading books. My father is a doctor, he (haven’t / hasn’t / isn’t) got time for
hobbies. We usually have dinner together.

2) Look at the picture and complete the paragraph with 7 words from the box. (3.5
marks)

mother – sister – daughter – pupil – brothers – tree – father – children – parents

Hi! My name is Ahmad. I’m eleven years old. I’m a ____________________ Leila
Mohamed
and this is my family. This is my _____________________ His name is
Mohamed. He is an engineer. My _____________________ is Leila. She is a
teacher. Mohamed and Leila are very good _____________________.
I haven’t got _______________________ but I have got one
______________________. Her name is Asma. She is my parents’ only
______________________. I have got a wonderful family. What about you?

Asma
3) Match questions in A with answers in B to get a coherent dialogue. (3.5 marks)
A B
1. Hi! What’s your name? a. Sonda and Sirine
2. Are you new at this school? b. I like drawing. It is enjoyable.
3. How old are you? c. Karim.
4. Have you got sisters? d. Yes, I have.
5. What are their names? e. No, it isn’t. I also love singing.

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 6. What is your favourite hobby? f. Thirteen.
7. Is drawing your only hobby? g. Yes, I am.
h. No, they aren’t.

Answers:
1→….. 2→….. 3→….. 4→….. 5→…... 6→…… 7→……

4) Reorder sentence parts to get correct sentences. (1.5 marks)

a) they / England / from / are / .
=>
They……………………………………………………………………………..……….……..
b) she / pupil / a / is / ?
=> Is
………………………………………………………………………………………………?
c) got / brother / they / sisters / have / two / one / and / .
=>
They……………………………………………………………………………………………
5) Match the utterances with their suitable functions. (There is 1 extra function) (2.5
marks)

Utterances Functions Answer

-Bill: “Hello. (1) What’s your name?” a) Introducing others.
-Suzy: “Hi. My name is Suzy. (2)
1 + ….
b) Greeting.
-Bill: “I’m Bill. Nice to meet you.”
-Suzy: “Nice to meet you, too.” 2 + ….
c) Asking about
-Bill: “How old are you Suzy? (3)”
3 + ….
-Suzy: “I’m 15 years old, and you?” number.
-Bill: “I’m 15, too.”
4 + ….
d) Expressing likes.
-Suzy: “How many sisters have you got? (4)”
-Bill: “Three.” 5 + ….
e) Introducing self.
-Suzy: “What’s your favourite hobby?”
-Bill: “I enjoy listening to music. (5)” f) Asking about age.

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SPELLING ( /06 MARKS)
1) Listen and write the missing words. (3.5 marks)
Hi! My name is Tina. Let me tell you about my best friend.
His name is Paul Johnson. He is his parents’ only ____________________. He has got a
small family. Paul’s _______________________ hobbies are playing tennis and
______________________. He likes watching cartoons too. Paul ____________________
his parents so much. His father’s ____________________ is playing football. Paul and his
father ____________________ watching football matches on TV. In his free time, Paul visits
his _______________________________. They are very nice.

2) Write the numbers in letters. (2.5 marks)

Hello everybody! I am Youssef and I’m (12) _____________________. I am in the ninth form.
I have got (4) _____________________ sisters. In my free time, I like playing video games.
Every day, I spend (7) _____________________ hours in front of my computer. I’ve got (30)
___________________ playmates and I’m an active gamer in (20)
________________________ online games.

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Dhiaa Bahri – 7th form 1:

107
108
Ghofrane Ben Hassine – 7th form 2:

109
110
Yasmine Lahmar – 7th form 2:

111
112
Malak Msalmi – 7th form 2:

113
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 ii. 9th form

Collège ESSALEM 9eme année (A) Enseignant: Rami Lahyani

Matière: Anglais Devoir de contrôle №1 (Octobre 2022) Durrée: 1 heure

Nom et prénom: ………......................................................................................... Classe: 9eme B……….

LANGUAGE ( /14 MARKS)

1) Fill in the blanks with 7 words from the box (there are 2 extra words). (3.5 marks)
break / teenager / agree / because / away / rely / open-minded / dog-headed / when
I’m Kevin. I’m fourteen years old. I’m a ____________________ (1) and I have problems with
my parents. I don’t get on well with them because they treat me like a two-year-old boy. They
don’t want me to ____________________ (2) on myself. They feel very satisfied
____________________ (3) I am dependent on them. My friends always laugh at me
____________________ (4) my parents control me all the time. For example, they don’t want
me to go out with my friends and they punish me when I ____________________ (5) the rules.
All this makes me feel miserable. That’s why I become very angry and
________________________ (6). I think seriously about running ____________________ (7)
from the house.

2) Put the bracketed words in the right form or tense. (4 marks)

I'm Tomas and I live in Vienna with my parents and my sisters. I'm the (young)
___________________ (1) in my family. I turned 13 last month. My sisters are Martina, 16,
and Betta, 19. Betta is very strict and she always (tell) _______________ (2) me what to do I
guess because she’s the (old) _______________ (3). I go to a nice school and I really enjoy
(study) _____________________ (4) there as I have a lot of friends. Geography is my
favourite subject because it’s the (easy) _________________________ (5)!
The most difficult subject for me is Maths. I love playing sports, especially basketball.
I'm (tall) _____________________ (6) than my friends in the team and I usually play really
well. The end of the match is the (sad) ________________________ (7) part of my day. On
the weekend, I spend a lot of time with my friends Ralf and Kurt. We do everything together
and they are the (important) ________________________________ (8) people in my life,
apart from my family of course!

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3) Circle the right alternative. (3.5 marks)
I really love my family very much. And of all my brothers, I like Jack the (more – better –
most). He is a 25-year-old man; which means he is 10 years (old – oldest – older) than me.
He’s a very (support – supportive – embarrassed) brother. We all lean on him in times of
hardships. My parents love him very much because he (disobeys – obeys – argues) them and
never fails to assume his responsibilities at home. He (cooks – cleans – rocks) his room by
himself and (does – do – doing) the gardening once a week. Besides, he is always there to help
(I – them – me) with my homework. I don’t remember I’ve had any problems with him
whatsoever.

4) Match the sentence parts in A with their completion in B to get a coherent

paragraph.
A B C
1- My parents fell in love and they a- house and my parents decided to 1 → ……
divorce.
2- Unfortunately, they disagreed a lot. Quarrels 2 → ……
b- open-minded than my mother.
3- After a big fight, my father left the c- they lived in an orphanage. 3 → ……
4- Our grandmother took care of d- overprotective but I’m doing my best
to be my children’s friend. 4 → ……
5- She was a kind and supportive person. She e- got married nine months later.
was more
f- my brothers, my sister and me 5 → ……

6- Now that I am a mother, I can better constantly.

6 → ……
understand why mum was so severe and g- and arguments between my parents
happened every day.
Be careful there’s an extra sentence part in B (Write your answers in C). (3 marks)

WRITING ( /6 MARKS)
Your classmates refuse to share family responsibilities with their family members. That is why
you decided to write an article in your school magazine to describe how your family members
share the house chores, and to tell your classmates why they should help their family members
with the family responsibilities.

……………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………

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……………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………

Content and fluency ………../ 2

Vocabulary and grammar ………../ 2
Punctuation, capitalisation and spelling ………../ 2

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Writing samples:

Nibel Lasswed – 9th form 1:

118
Maha Boutabba – 9th form 1:

119
Dhekra Msalmi – 9th form 2:

120
 V. Discussion

The unconventional nature of formative assessment _ which is inherently present in the

various methods discussed in this piece of research _ would make such assessment educational
and enjoyable at the same time. Indeed, the pupils showed great willingness and enthusiasm to
take part in activities like games and songs. Such activities add a sense of freshness and
originality which can be inviting and encouraging for learners from different levels. Besides,
formative assessment seems to offer the teacher and the learners alike the possibility to make
the needed adjustments before summative assessments. Indeed, in various moments of the
academic year, formative assessment helped me recognize the areas in which my students
lacked the most. Accordingly, I took the necessary measures to remedy the shortcomings, be it
by allocating review sessions or even by inserting consolidation activities in other lessons.
Some methods such as peer-assessment gave the pupils a hands-on experience and made them
more aware of what they should work on more. Therefore, the more students are provided with
instances of formative assessment, the more they have the chance to remedy their weaknesses,
and hence do better in summative assessments. However, it should be noted that some
techniques of formative assessment might be time consuming and lack a bit of practicality as
they may require a great deal of preparation and logistic effort (such as the portfolio). Moreover,
some techniques need to be carried out the right way. Otherwise, the class may turn into total
chaos, especially while conducting activities that involve games or audiovisual materials.
Nonetheless, when the teacher prepares and conducts such activities in the right way, the
outcome would be extremely rewarding and satisfying.

VI. Conclusion
One might conclude that formative assessment seems to have a great impact on the
learning process. In fact, it not only allows the teacher to draw estimates about the learners’
capabilities, but also represents an opportunity to review and consolidate what has been already
taught. On the one hand, formative assessment provides the teacher with valuable information
with regards to the learners’ performances in various fields. The teacher can make use of various
techniques to track the progress of their pupils and adjust the lesson planning and the learning
process accordingly. On the other hand, the formative nature prevails and offers an opportunity
to the teachers to consolidate and review what was taught. It might be safe to say that the first
step towards a successful summative assessment is probably conducting multiple formative

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assessments. The more the learners are exposed to formative assessments, the more they learn
about their weaknesses and give their teacher the possibility to take the appropriate measures.
Similarly, the more the teacher makes use of formative assessment, the more they redress the
shortcomings and tie up some loose ends.

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Bibliography

Brown, D. H. (2003). Language Assessment - Principles and Classroom Practices. Pearson

PTR Interactive.

Mukhopadhyay, L. (2018, August 19). LANGUAGE TESTING FOR THE ESL CLASSROOM.
Academia.Edu.
https://www.academia.edu/37258583/LANGUAGE_TESTING_FOR_THE_ESL_CLASSRO
OM

Torres, J. O. (2019). Positive Impact of Utilizing More Formative Assessment over

Summative Assessment in the EFL/ESL Classroom. Open Journal of Modern Linguistics,
09(01), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.4236/ojml.2019.91001

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