ENGLISH TEACHING PRINCIPLE

ASESSING LANGUAGE SKILLS

BY GROUP 13 :
1. Sumita Sihombing (2020300045
2. Ika Komaria Rambe (2020300069)

LECTURER :
Sokhira Linda Vinde Rambe, S.Pd., M.Pd

ENGLISH EDUCATION PROGRAM

FACULTI OF TARBIYAH AND TEACHER TRAINING
THE STATE OF ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY SYEKH ALI HASAN AHMAD ADDARY
PADANGSIDIMPUAN

2022
 PREFACE

Praise be to Allah SWT who has given His grace and guidance so that we can complete the
assignment of this paper entitled "ASESSING LANGUAGE SKILLS" on time.
The purpose of writing this paper is to fulfill the duties mom Sokhira Linda Vinde Rambe, S.pd,
M.pd of English Teaching Principle. In addition, this paper also aims to add insight about
teaching for readers and also for writers. We also thank all those who have shared some of their
knowledge so that we can complete this paper. We realize that the paper we wrote is still far
from perfect. Therefore, We will look forward to constructive criticism and suggestions for the
perfection of this paper

Padangsidimpuan, 11 October 2022

Group 13

1
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

PREFACE.................................................................................................................................................1
TABLE OF CONTENTS .............................................................................................................................2
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................................3
CHAPTER II DISCUSSION.........................................................................................................................4
A. Definition............................................................................................................................................4
B. Principles ...........................................................................................................................................4
C. Types..................................................................................................................................................7
D. How Language Asessment work ..........................................................................................................8
E. Purpose of Language Asessment .....................................................................................................10
CONCLUSION........................................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES.........................................................................................................................................12

2
 CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION

Throughout this paper we have encouraged you to integrate learner-centered activities, even if
you're working in a traditional classroom environment. We have emphasized the importance of
getting student feedback on a regular basis and tailoring your lessons to meet student interests
and needs. By observing carefully and asking questions of the whole class or random individuals
within the class, you have been able to monitor your students' progress to find out whether or not
students understand what is going on in the lesson.

In this chapter on assessment, we discuss the exercises and tests that you can use to document the
progress your students are making in your classroom. We introduce the purposes and basic types
of assessment, provide some guidelines for testing large, multilevel classes, and provide
suggestions for evaluating listening, speaking, reading, and writing in large multilevel classes.
This chapter includes recommendations for keeping records and suggestions for preparing
students for major examinations. And finally, as we think about monitoring and assessment, we
consider how we as teachers can .assess and improve our own efforts in the classroom.

Student assessment takes place when you are keeping a written record to document the progress
that your individual students have made. Assessment can take the form of paper and pencil tests,
teacher checklists and rating scales, or student self-assessment questionnaires. Through
assessment, you are able to determine whether or not your students are able to apply what they
have learned.

3
 CHAPTER II
DISCUSSION

A. Definition

Assessment is perhaps one of most difficult and important parts of our jobs as
teachers. Ideally, it should be seen as a means to help us guide students on their road to
learning. No single procedure can meet the needs of all learners and situations, so we
need to remember to incorporate a variety of tools to help our students know how they
are progressing and to gauge the effectiveness of our own methodology and materials.

Assessment is how we identify our learners’ needs, document their progress, and
determine how we are doing as teachers and planners. That being said, how do we know
we are doing it right? How do we know that the assessment tools we are using measure
what we intend them to? If we are serious about getting the best snapshot of the progress
of our learners and the effectiveness of our programs, these are questions that we must
continually ask.

B. Principle

Assessment is one of the important things in teaAsessment learning process

because it is a tool to  measure whether the students know or
understand the material or not. By giving assessment, teacher can get information
about students’ achievement. Brown (2010: 25) stated that there are five major principl
es of languageassessment; practically, reliability, validity, authenticity, and wash back. 
They aregoing to be described in more detail as followed:

1. Practically

Brown said that practically refers to the logistical, down to earth,administrative 
issue involved in making, giving, and scoring and assessmentinstrument (2010: 26). Fu
rther, Mousavi in Brown (2010: 26) stated that theseinclude cost, the amount of time it 
takes to construct and to administer, ease of scoring, and ease of reporting the result.

4
Based on the definition above, it can be conclude that practically
defines in term of cost, time, administration, scoring/evaluation.

a. Cost
A good test should not be too expensive to conduct. A teacher shouldavoid cond
ucting a test that requires excessive budget. 
b.Time
A good test should not be too long or too short to be finished by thestudents.
c.Administration
A good test should not be too complicated or difficult to conduct and itshould b
e imple to administer.
d.Scoring/evaluation
A good test should be followed by something to make it easy to score likerubric
s of scoring and key answer.

2. Reliability

Brown (2010: 27) said that a reliable test is consistent and dependable.If you gi
ve the same test to the same student or matched students on two
different occasions, the test should yield similar results. From the definition
above, it means that if the test is conducted to the same students on different
occasions then it will produce almost the same result. For example, a student
will get the same score if he or she takes the test, possibly with a diferent
examiner, on a Monday morning or a Tuesday afternoon.

3. Validity

As stated by Brown (2010: 30), a valid test measures exactly what it proposes to 
measure. For example, when the students are given a reading test
about the human respiration, a valid test will measure the reading ability such
as identifying general or specific information of the text, not their priorknowledge (biol
ogy) about the human respiration.Brown (2010: 3035) proposed five ways to establish 
validity. They are content validity, criterion validity, construct validity, consequential
validity, and face validity.
a. Content Validity
Content validity refers to the correlation between the content of thetest and the l
anguage skill, structure, etc.For example:When the teacher wants to assess

5
 students’ speaking ability in aconversational setting, then the teacher asks the students t
o answer paper-and-pencil multiple-choice questions requiring grammatical
 judgments. It is not achieve content validity. The teacher shouldconduct a test that requ
ires the students actually to speak to theirfriend.
 b. Criterion Validity
Criterion validity emphasizes on the relationship between the test
score and the outcome. According to Brown (2010: 32), criterion
validity usually falls into concurrent validity and predictive validity.
  c. Construct Validity
Construct validity refers to concepts or theories which areunderlying the usage 
of certain ability.For example:Proficiency, communicative competence, and fluency are 
examplesof linguistic construct. When the teacher conducts a speaking test,the scoring 
analysis for the test includes several factors in the finalscore: pronunciation, fluency, gr
ammatical accuracy, vocabularyuse, and socio linguistics appropriateness. The justifica
tion of thesefive factors lies in the theoretical construct that claims those factors
to be major components of oral proficiency. But if he conducts atest that evaluated only 
pronunciation and grammar, he could be justifiably suspicious about the construct valid
ity of that test.
d.Consequential Validity
Consequential validity refers to the consequences of using a particular test for a 
particular purpose. A good test must give positive consequence for the students. So, the 
teacher should consider the effect of assessment on students’ motivation,
independent learning, study habits, and attitude toward school work.
e. Face Validity
According to Gronlund in Brown (2010: 35), face validity is
students view the assessment as fair, relevant, and useful forimproving learning. Moreo
ver, Mousavi in Brown (2010: 35) statedthat face validity refers to the degree to which 
a test looks right,and appears to measure the knowledge or abilities it claims tomeasure, 
based on the subjective judgment of the examinees whotake it, the administrative perso
nnel who decide on its use, andother psychometrically unsophisticated observers.
Students may feel that a test isn’t testing what it’s supposed to test,
and this might affect their performance and consequently affect the result of the test. 

 
4. Authenticity

The fourth major principle of language assessment is authenticity. It
deals with the “real word”. Teachers should conduct a testwith the test itemsare likely to be ap
plied in the real context of daily life. Brown (2010: 3) proposes consideration that might be hel
pful to present authenticity in a test. They are:

6
 The language in the test is as natural as possible.
Topics are meaningful (relevant, interesting) for the learner.
Some thematic organization to items is provided, such as through astory line or episode.
Tasks represent, or closely approximate, real-world tasks.

5. Washback
According tohttp://teflpedia.com/Washback_effect, washback refersto the influence, ei
ther positive or negative, that anexamhas on the way inwhich studentsare taught. In addition, H
ughes in Brown (2010: 37) said thatwashback is the effect of testing on teaching and learning. 
Based on thosedefinitions above, it can be concluded that washback refers to the effect oftestin
g on teaching and learning process and it has two sides;
a. positive andnegative.
Positive washback has beneficial influence on teaching and learning for both the teachers and t
he students.For example:When the teacher conducts daily paper based test and asks the student
s toanswer some questions, after they finish their job they will submit the paper to the teacher t
hen the teacher check their job. After that, theteacher not only gives a score but also gives a fee
dback or comment
about their strengths and their weaknesses on test performance in order togive motivation to th
e students.
b. Negative Washback
A test which has negative washback is considered to have negativeinfluence on teaching and le
arning.For example:When the teacher conducts daily paper based test and asks the students toa
nswer some questions, after they finish their job they will submit the paper to the teacher then t
he teacher check their job and only gives thema score without any comments. In reality, letter 
grade or numerical scoreis not enough. The students need a feedback from their teacher.

C. Types

Assessments come in many shapes and sizes. For those who are new to
assessment or just starting out, the terms can be hard to sort out or simply unfamiliar.
Knowing one type of assessment from another can be a helpful way to understand how
best to use assessment to your advantage.

1. Diagnostic Asessment

7
 Diagnostic is some assessments are helpful before the race even begins to help
determine what the best running strategy . Diagnostic assessments happen at the start to
gauge pre-knowledge.
2. formative Asessment
Formative is some assessments are beneficial during the race to track progress
and see if adjustments to the strategy should be made during the race. Formative
assessments are used in the middle of a lesson or year to determine how students are
progressing.
3. Interim Asessment
Interin is some assessments are given to see if students in entire schools or
districts, the entire running team, are moving forward and learning the material. Interim
assessments are given across an entire school or district in order to compare results of
groups of students.
4. Summative Asessment
Summative is some assessments are best at the very end of the race, to review
performance, see how you did, and see how to improve for the next race. In a summative
assessment, success is measured at the end of a checkpoint.

Assessments help you gauge the strengths and weaknesses of each student so you
can adjust and guide student learning accordingly. By giving grade level assessments,
you can track student performance, help students develop, and improve student learning.
Choose an assessment type that evaluates students in a way that fits the goals of your
instruction and get started

D. How does language assessment work?

As we’ve seen, meaningful language assessment covers four key areas: reading,

writing, speaking, and listening. So how should each one be assessed, and where can you
find resources to help you?

1.Assessing Reading

Reading takes place in a variety of contexts, not just books. Children read on
tablets, computers, and phone screens. No matter what they're reading, the same simple
process applies. They have a goal or purpose for reading. They use knowledge of words
and grammar to make meaning from the words.
So reading assessment should focus on a range of texts and tasks to fit the reader's
purpose. This might be through reading comprehension activities or putting words into
sentences so that they make sense.

8
We’ve got a huge range of resources to support reading. Take a look at our collection
of Reading - ESL Resources & Activities to discover a variety of fun and engaging lesson
materials.
Need resources to support a newly-arrived EAL learners with reading? Why not try
our Settling Into School Pack? Developed by our PlanIt teachers, it even includes an
initial language assessment.

2. Assessing Writing

Writing is a complex process. Children need a topic and the message they want to
communicate. They might also need to consider the audience and there’s also the overall
structure and the vocabulary they need to use.
So when assessing writing, it’s important to set a range of specific writing tasks to gauge
their ability to write for different purposes and audiences. The tasks should also be about
something relevant to them.
Discover a range of writing resources for ESL learners by heading over to our ESL
English Writing Practice and Lessons.And to support younger EAL learners with writing,
take a look at our Fine Motor Skills Pack. This fantastic bundle of teacher-created
activity sheets covers pencil grip and control as well as finger exercise and letter
formation.
3. Assessing Speaking

Speaking happens every day. Like writing, speaking requires children’s brains to
find the right words and put them together in a way that makes sense. Again like writing,
how we speak and the words we use depends on the context: who we are talking to and
the purpose of our conversation.
For that reason, there are lots of different way to assess speaking such as interview,
presentations, and group or paired work. Some common speaking activities involve
describing a picture or discussing personal information like hobbies or interests.
Help to get the conversation started by using the amazing activities collected in our ESL
Speaking Resources.For EAL learners, we can recommend our Survival Vocabulary
Pack. Inside you’ll find eighteen separate resources to support children with
communicating their needs and feelings. It includes games, word cards, and more.

4. Assessing Listening

Hearing is one of our five senses. Listening is the act of making sense of what
we’ve heard. It’s a bit like reading and reading comprehension. A child might be able to
pronounce the words but do they understand the meaning?

9
 Listening is a complex process. Our brains process the sounds reaching our ears to
recognize them as language. They then organize the sounds into phrases and begin to
develop our understanding of the gist of what’s been said. Then they use our existing
knowledge to make better sense of the overall message.
For listening assessments, it’s important that they copy real-life situations. In general,
listening assessments involve listening to a recording or live speaker and then giving a
response such as:

 identifying the main ideas.

 selecting specific information.

 picking out words from a list.

E. Purposes of Assessment

Assessment of student learning is important to a variety of stakeholders locally,

regionally, and nationally, depending on the type and purpose of the assessment. Cohen
(1994) identified a number of specific reasons for assessing student learning and organized them
by administrative, instructional, and research functions, as shown in the following chart.
Shrum and Glisan (2010) describe a paradigm shift in assessment practices in the world language
classroom. In the old paradigm, the purpose of assessment was simply to evaluate language
learners and assign grades. The new paradigm identifies multiple purposes of assessment:

 To assess learner progress in proficiency

 To assess attainment of the National Standards
 To guide and improve student performance
 To evaluate and inform instruction and program design
 To make a seamless connection between instruction and assessment

Brown and Abeywickrama (2010) see assessment as integral to the cycle of teaching

and learning, and continuous throughout the cycle. They suggest ways that assessments are
useful:

 Appropriate assessments aid in the reinforcement and retention of information.

 Assessments can confirm areas of strength and pinpoint areas needing further work.
 Assessments can provide a sense of periodic closure to modules within a curriculum.
 Assessments can promote student autonomy by encouraging students' self-evaluation of
their progress.
10
  Assessments can spur learners to set goals for themselves.Assessments can aid in
evaluatingteaching effectiveness.

CONCLUSION

Language assessment can be an integral part of learning for students and

teachers in language classrooms. It also appears in a multitude of decisions made
by teachers, students and administrators. Assessment is used when placing students
into courses, diagnosing their needs, determining when learning goals are met,
evaluating teaching methods, as well as providing learners with self-evaluative
information.

When teachers decide to use assessment, they should carefully consider why they
are assessing learners, what information are they trying to access, and how can
they best elicit this information. This module provides some ideas and examples
for answering these questions. Teachers are also encouraged to bring students into
the assessment process as a way to synthesize learning and assessment

11
 REFERENCES

https://www.academia.edu/38027869/PRINCIPLES_OF_LANGUAGE_ASSESSMENT

http://www.nzdl.org/cgi-bin/library?e=d-00000-00---off-0cdl--00-0----0-10-0---0---0direct-10---
4-------0-1l--11-en-50---20-about---00-0-1-00-0--4----0-0-11-10-0utfZz-8-
10&cl=CL2.20&d=HASH014a5e9cd0442677a598a6fb.14&gt=1

https://edulastic.com/blog/types-of-assessment/

https://www.coerll.utexas.edu/methods/modules/assessment/05/

12