Assessing Young Learners

By: Penny McCay


Silvia Andrea Tarazona
Natalia Forero González
 Some Key Concepts

 Young Learner: students
attending to the first seven
years of formal schooling.
(aged 5-13).

 Bilingual Learners:
Students who are proficient
in two languages.

Picture retrieved from www.britishcouncil.org

 Key concepts
 High stakes

 Low stakes

 External assessment

 Stakeholders

 Diagnostic assessment
Image retrived from: www.mhastakeholders.com

 On-the-run assessment
 
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 Foreign Language Learning: Learning a language that is

rarely heard outside the
classroom.
 Second Language Learning: Learning a language to
communicate in a country
where the majority of people
speak it since birth.
 Expected Learning outcomes

 age

 Appropiatness of curriculum

 Language proficiency of teacher

 Teacher´s teaching skills

 Exposure to the target language Image retrieved from: www.newfuturo.com


 

Picture retrieved from www.creatingagreenworld.com

 Young learners in the upper school years are moving to

Piaget´s formal operational stage.
 Cognitive Growth

 The attention span of
young learners .

YL are developing

abilities to think in new
ways.
Image retrieved from: www.textileart.net
 Cognitive Growth

5 to 7 years 8 to 10 years old 11 to 13 years
old old

Students learn Students are It is possible to

use the L2 to talk
by direct trying to about recent
experiences. manipulate events, plans for
ideas, but direct the future and
experience is still career aspirations
very important.
 Assessing Young Learners During
Cognitive Growth

 It is important to take into
account the stage of
delevolpment for
appropiate assessment.

 Assessment should take

place in a quiet setting.

 Assessing through team

games . Photo retrieved from: www.unitedu.org
Emotional and Social Growth

 Socioeconomic and
cultural background
influence children´s
individual experience of
the world.

 They start developing a

possitive or negative
concept of self.
Retrieved from: www.parenting.com
 
Picture retrieved from: www.doublebugs.com

 Children start developing independence.

 School years:
deal with hostility,dominance
and friendship.
Interact with peers to lead and to be lead.
to hide anxiety
Emotional and Social Growth

 In this stage students
need: love, security, and
recognition to function in
groups.

 Build students social skills.

Retrieved from: www.population.org

 Assessment During Emotional and
Social Growth

 Take into account students likes and interests.
 Peer influence may affect the reaction to certain
tasks.
 Assessment should involve cultural-based topics and
tasks.
 Environment should be “ psychologically safe”.
 Tasks can involve movement and play.
 Instructions and reviews should be clear.
 Feedback needs to be immediate and friendly.
Physical Growth


Picture retrieved from: www.ppfchildren. Wordpress.com

 
 Development of motor skills:

1. Gross-motor skills: run, climb,

balance.

2. Fine-motor skills: write, cut, draw.

Implies hand-eye coordination.

Retrieved from: www.preschoolactivities.com

 Assessing Young Learners During
Physical Growth

 Physical activity to accompain language-related
response.
5 to 7 years old 9 to 13 years old

Assessment tasks should Physical growth needs to take

involve playing since they into account assessment tasks
incorporate fantasy, reality in terms of tiredeness and
and fun. hand-eye coordination

They get tired more easily Involve safe and physical

sitting than moving. activities to assess.
 Literacy Skills

• Writing is helped through
drawings in the first years.

• Children are developing

understanding about how
reading and writing work.

image retrieved from: www.voyaprenderingles.com

Image retrieved from: www.vafamilysped.org

 Literacy Skills

5 to 7 years old 8 to 10 years old 11 to 13 years old

Children have Stdents start to Students can read

started to write, with organize ideas to and write about
well developed oral write. fiction and non-
skills in L1. fiction and start to
develop critical
thinking.
 Literacy skills

5 to 7 years old 8 to 10 years old 11 to 13 years old


Students understand Learners begin to self- Students increase their
that the print “tells” correct errors. silent reading rate.
the story.

Students develop Students still combine Learners understand

basic vocabulary and drawings with words. that people can
can read slowly. interpret in different
ways the same
material.

They are Students start reading Students can read for

understanding how and writing for pleasure.
literacy works. specific purposes.
 Assessing Young Learners´
Literacy Skills

 Text that students can read
and really understand.

 Set clear expectation for the

writing tasks.

 Tasks should help them to

feel good and to encourage
creativity.
Picture retrieved from: www.theconversation.com
 Vulnerability

 Students self-
esteem is strongly
affected by
experiences at
school.
Retrieved from: www. trasfonounisucre.blogspot.com
 
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• Assessment should give

student a sense of
progression.

• Friendly feedback to
avoid loss of motivation.
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 Rate of development

Not every child develops the same way, and all
dimensions do not develop at the same time.

www.feminainfame.com.ar

Image retrieved from: www.elbebe.com

 Beliefs and Practices
of Elementary Education


Image retrieved from: www.frereantoine.ecsd.net

 Multiple Intelligences

 Gardner, 1993. Established 8 different types of intelligences.

Image retrieved from:www.etc. edu.co

 Constructivist Education

In constructivist education,
children’s learning skills are
promoted; children are
encouraged to become active
learners through a two-way
communication of ideas with
other people, with other
peers and with teachers.

Retrieved from: www.banaajam.com

 Scaffolding Support

 skills or procedures are
thoroughtly learned.

 Range of examples with a

common structure.

 The new tasks appears

similar to the old ones.

Image retrieved from: www.blocksandpuzzles.com

The Power of
Assessment
on Young 
Learners´
lives.
 Fair Assessment

 Provide meaningful and
appropriate information about
a child’s language use ability,
and avoid bias against any
child because of that child’s
characteristics .
Image retrieved from: www.merakiddo.org
 Effective Assessment

 Gives educators feedback in the teaching learning
process.

 Provides information to administrators.

 Provides information to parents about their children.

 Gives students knowledge on their own progress.

Assessment is not effective
when….

 It sets power relationships that
become established and habitual
(Foucault, 1979).

.
www.privateschools.com

 Pedadogic Purposes Administrative Purposes

Aim to promote learning,

takes into account students
Furnishing information
about students and schools
needs. performances for
managment and account
goals.

• It is believed that administrative purposes prevail over pedagogical

standards .

• Assessment is related to standards :

Content Standards Performance Standards

 BIAS FOR BEST

• Possitve feedback
to motivate them
to succeed.

• Appropiate tasks
and instructions

www.mirror.co.uk
 http://dawningyearsacademy.com/services/preschool/

Young learners and

language learning
 Characteristics

http://www.visualphotos.com/

Language use ability, the ability to use language communicatively

 Evidence of language use ability
(early stages)
• understand new language.

• respond appropriately to
directives.

• create their own

utterances.

• use language appropriately

in non-rehearsed http://www.futureleaderacademy.com

interactions.
 Extending language use ability
(more advanced levels)
• understand extended
teacher input and interaction

• interact with peers,

teachers and others

• read and write in the

language

• employ language learning http://archive.dailycal.org/

strategies
Sociocultural Perspective of
SLA
‘Learning how to mean’

http://diversidadsociocultural.bligoo.com
Sociocultural
 Cultural codes/rules
The role of speaking and silence Interpersonal relationships

http://umsenglishdepartment.

http://www.johngoodpast
blogspot.com

ure.com
http://carmetamoran.com/?

www.qualvu.com

Rules of politeness Non-verbal behavior

Developing new identities
Language is ‘the most salient way we
have of establishing and advertising our
social identities’

http://beyx.deviantart.com
The nature of the classroom determines how
well children develop their new identities in
the second language
Learning the discourses of the
classroom

http://tccl.rit.albany.edu
The discourse of the classroom can be said to be made up of the social interaction
amongst participants. Learning the specific discourses of curriculum content
areas such as science, social studies, physical education and mathematics.
 Optimal conditions for
language learning

http://www.samfordpines.com
Include, at least, the following four features: a focus on meaning, interesting and engaging input
and interacting, selected opportunities to focus on form,
and a safe and supportive learning environment.
 Hard work

http://www.cleveland.com
Children do not simply absorb the language around them.
Children in a foreign language situation:

• ‘useL1’ in order
to double-check
words or
expressions not

https://engage.intel.com/
available in L2.

• ‘appeal for
assistance’.

• ‘build patterns’
Printes (1999) • The Silent period
 Implications for assessment
Effective language
assessment builds up
children’s abilities to use
language in the full
meaning of the term.

Assessment and feedback

need to evoke positive
emotions in children about
language learning, about
themselves and about others
 Conclusions
• It is important to take into account students cognitve, social, emotional
and physical growth in order to design appropiate tasks for assessment.

• Assessment can have a possitive or a negative impact on students´ lives,

reason why assessment must be valid and fair.

• L1 should be considered as a tool of reference for young students in their

process of learning a L2.

• Language learning is a social process rather than an individual process.

• Feedback is important to improve the learning process , to encourage and

motivate students in their learning process.

• Assessment not only affect learners, it also affects stakeholders in diferent

ways.
 ACTIVITY
1. Disscuss in groups wheter the tasks suggested are
apprpiate or inapproapiate for young learners taking
into account:

• Age
• Cognitive development
• Social and emotional development
• Physical development
• Literacy development