CHAPTER II

A. Assessment

Assessment is gathering of information for a spesific purpose. On the other

hand, Assessment is the process of gathering information about a student in order
to make decisions about his or her education. One kind of assessment procedure
is testing. In elementary tests are given routinely to measure the extent to which
we profit from instruction. We may have taken intelligence, aptitude, interest,
personality tests or any number of other kinds of tests. Testing means presenting a
person with a set of questions or tasks in order to obtain a measure of performance
often represented by a score. The score is intended to help answer questions and
produce information about the person tested.

Two concepts are important in assessment, they are validity and reliability.
You might want to assess if five-yaers-olds can correctly pronounce the/m/sound.
A valid assessment would be whether the children who have been taught the song
Do you know the muffin man? Can accurately pronounce /m/ as they sing the words
muffin and man. An assessment tool is relible if the results are consistent over a
period of time. This means that for a test to have relibility, the results should be
consistent when different teacher administer the test and /or different teachers
score them. The test results should also be consistent if they are given on different
days.

1. Formal assessments
Norm-referenced tests have standardized, formal procedures for
administering, timing and scoring. They have been "normed" or administered
to a representative sample of similar age or grade level students so that final
test results can be compared to students of similar characteristics. Test results
indicate a person's relative performance in the group. These standardized tests
 must be administered as specified in the manual to ensure valid and reliable
results.
a) Criterion-referenced tests

Criterion-referenced tests (CRT) measure what the person is able to do and

indicate what skills have been mastered. CRT compare a person's
performance with his or her own past performance. An example is the
number of spelling words correct. If Molly spells 15 of 20 words correct,
that is 75% correct, higher than the past week when her score was 60%
correct. In criterion-referenced measurement, the emphasis is on assessing
specific and relevant behaviors that have been mastered rather than
indicating the relative standing in the group.

2. Informal/natural assessments:

Play-based assessment is a tool used while a child is playing usually in his/her

natural environment. The observer is able to see the interactions between the
child and peers as well as noting speech and language, and motor abilities.

a) Checklists and rating scales

Checklists and rating scales are used to make judgments about children's
behavior. The two should be used in different settings to determine patterns
in behavior (Lerner, Lowenthal, & Egan, 1998). Parent interviews are
judgments based upon the observations of significant people in the child's
life.
 Formal Assessments Informal/ Natural Assessments

Norm-referenced tests Observation

Criterion-referenced tests Play-based

Check lists and rating scales

Parent interviews

3. Teacher assessing students

Assessment of performance ca be explicit when say that was really

good, or implicit when, during a language drill for example, was pass on the
next student without making any coomment or correction (there is always the
danger, however, that the student may misconstrue our silence as something
else).

There are a number of ways in which can assess our students’s work :

a) Comments : commenting on student performance happens at varoius stages

both in and outside the class. Thus we may say good, or nood approvingly,
and these comments (or action) are a clear sign of a positive assessment.
When we wish to give a negative assessment we might do so by indicating
that something has gone wrong or by saying things such as that’s not quite
right or Your invitation language was a bit mixed up. When we make
comments at the end of a piece of writing such as you’ve written a very
interesting composition, or paragraph 2 is confusing because the sequence
of event is not clear.
b) Marks and grades : when students are graded on their work they are always
keen to know what grades they have achieved. Awarding a mark of 9/10 for
 a pieces of writing or giving a B+ assessment for a speaking activity are clear
indicators that students have done well.
When students get good grades their motivations is often positively effected
provided that the level of challenge for task was appropriate. Bad grade can
be extremely disheartening. Nor is a grading always easy an clear cut. When
we grade a homeworks exercise (or atest item) which depends on mutliple
choice, sentence fillins, or other controlled excerices types, it will be
relatively easy for students to understand how and why they achieved the
marks or grades which we have given them. The same is less obviously true
with more creative activities where we ask students to produce spoken or
written langauge to perform a task. In such cases our awarding of grades will
necessarily be somewhat more subjective. Is is possible that despite this our
students will have enough confidence in us to accept our judgement,
especially where it coincides with their own assessement of their work. But
where this is not the case-or where they compare their mark or grade with
other students and do not agree with what they find -it will be helpful if we
can demostrate clear criteria for the grading we have given, either offering
some kind of marking scale or some other written or spoken explanation of
the basic on which we will make our judgement.
Awarding letteers grades is potensially awkward if people misunderstand
what letters mean. In some culture success is only achieved if the grade is
‘A’, whereas for people in other education system a ‘B’ indicates a good
result. If, therefore, we wish to rely on grades like this our students need to
be absolutely clear about what such grades mean-especially if we wish to
add plus and minus signs to (e.g C++ or A).

c) Reports : at the end of a team or years some teachers write reports on their
students, performance either for student, the school, or the parents of that
student. Such reports should give a clear indication of how well the students
 has done in the recent past and a reasonable assessment of their future
prospects.
It important when writing reports to achieved a judicious balance between
positive and negative feedback, where this is possible. Like all feedback
stuents have a right (and a desire) to know not only what their weaknesses
may be, but also what strenghts they have been albe to demonstrate.

B. Assessing Listening for Children

Listening is one of four language skills. Listening is an active process, as the

mind actively engages in making meaning. It is therefore our duty as teachers
to ensure that the materials we use are comprehensible to our young learners,
as well as within the range of what they are developmentally ready for.
Listening is also hard work! And can be stressful! So in order to maximise the
potential for acquisition of language, we need to ensure that children are not
stressed about this process. Here are some tips and ideas for listening practice.

1. Where can we find listening materials?

you’ll find a variety of listening materials, including:

a) Traditional songs such as ‘The wheels on the bus’ and ‘Incy Wincy
Spider’ as well as lots of great original kids songs. Depending on
copyright some are available to download.
b) Traditional and original stories to listen to and/or read.
c) Tongue twisters to help with pronunciation and have fun practising
English.
d) Games in the Tricky words subsection of ‘Speak and spell’.
2. Listening basics
We need to give learners a reason to listen.
a) Giving activities before, during and after listening means that learners
are not just listening but are engaged in the task, and actually doing
something with what they hear.
b) We should also use English in class as much as possible so our learners
get maximum listening practice. Even if you are not confident with
your own accent they will be learning more than if you speak only to
them in your first language.

3. How can I use the listening materials in class?

Before listening to the songs, short stories or videos, you could:

a) Introduce the topic and revise or pre-teach vocabulary with flashcards.

You can make your own flashcards with our flashcard maker tool, or
look on LearnEnglish Kids to find lexical sets of flashcards. You could
drill new words with the learners then play a quick game with the
cards. For example, show the class some flashcards then mix them up
and remove one - ask which one is missing. Alternatively, show the
learners ten cards then turn them over and ask them to remember the
pictures.
b) Most of the songs, stories and videos have a 'preparation' picture and
word matching game with some of the key vocabulary.
c) Look at a still image of the song, story or video before you listen, and
ask learners to predict which words they are going to hear and what
it’s going to be about. Write their ideas and words on the board.

4. Tasks that learners can do during listening include:

 a) Checking whether their predictions about which words they would hear
are correct.
b) Completing the printable worksheets or answering questions. The songs,
short stories and videos all come with free printable worksheets, or you
can ask your learners your own questions.
c) Learners probably need to listen more than once to complete these tasks.
The first time they listen for the main idea, then in subsequent
listenings for more detail and more depth of understanding.
d) Singing along to songs of course! Actions will make the song more
memorable and fun. Kids will love copying the actions they see on the
screen but feel free to make up your own too!

5. After listening you could:

a) Use the transcripts for language focus, for example, picking out useful
expressions, question words or verb structures. Find the transcripts
directly under each song, story or video.
b) Do any extension activities on the printable worksheets.
c) Use the listening activity as a starting point for project work on a
similar theme. There are crafts (masks, puppets, games and more)
available which you might find useful for this.
d) If your learners are registered on the site they can write comments
under the material they have listened to. Registration only takes a
minute but they need to use a parent or guardian's email address.
Encourage your learners to register at home with their help.

6. With very young learners:

a) You could introduce the listening topic and focus attention with
puppets. The puppet can talk about a song or story or point to
 pictures related to the listening material. Use a simple picture on a
stick or even a sock.
b) While children are listening, get them to respond physically to what
they hear. They can point to flashcards on the wall when they hear or
see certain characters or words. They could also stand up or shout out
each time they hear certain words – depending on how noisy or
active you want the children to be. As we mentioned earlier, you can
invent actions for songs or let the children invent their own, taking it
in turns to be the leader.
c) Use flashcards for a ‘run and touch’ activity after listening. You say
the word, then learners run (or hop or swim, etc.) to that flashcard on
the wall.

7. What else can we use?

a) Tongue twisters can help with pronunciation and are a fun way to
practise English. Listen to the tongue twister and then practise saying
it. Try slowly at first, and then more quickly!
b) Games in the Tricky words section demonstrate the pronunciation of
tricky spellings in English.