Module 2 Assessment activities

Assessment word association

Brainstorm together the words and phrases you associate with the headings below and write them in the circles.

Types of assessment

Types of tasks used in assessment

Vocabulary associated with assessment

An English global product

The British Council, 2008 The United Kingdoms international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a charity.

Module 2 Assessment activities

Assessment word association suggestions for trainers
Brainstorm together the words and phrases you associate with the headings below and write them in the circles

Continuous assessment Formal/informal assessment Portfolio assessment Progress test Subjective assessment Subjective/Objective assessmentLevel test

Types of assessment Types of assessment

Placement test Placement test Diagnostic Achiev ement testtest Multiple choice Gap-fill tasks Matching tasks Gap-fill tasks Sentence transformation Sentence transformation Sentence completion Sentence completion

Achievement test Proficiency test

Proficiency test Oral test Diagnostic test Progress test Summative assessment Formative/summative Self assessment assessment

Types of tasks used in assessment

Cloze tasks Matching tasks

Cloze tasks Open comprehension questions etc Finding out about learning Progress Performance Marking Grades Examinations Open comprehension questions NB teacher can collect assessment information from almost any classroom task

Vocabulary associated with assessment

Feedback Accuracy Validity Reliability Criteria Test items Evaluation Fluency

An English global product

The British Council, 2008 The United Kingdoms international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a charity.

Module 2 Assessment activities

Why assess?
Brainstorm all the reasons you can think of for why we assess learners.

An English global product

The British Council, 2008 The United Kingdoms international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a charity.

Module 2 Assessment activities

Why assess? suggested answers
Brainstorm all the reasons you can think of for why we assess learners.

to provide feedback to learners on their progress (e.g. what they have done well and what they need to improve) to provide feedback to learners on their achievement (ie how much they have learned at a particular point in time) to get information about learners ability to understand or use target language structures or c vocabulary help teachers know how to help their learners to get information about learners skills development to find out whether learners like or dislike specific classroom activities (you could collect this information by asking and by observing) For diagnostic purposes: to use information about learners strengths and weaknesses to provide information which can feed in to planning to let learners know what standards they need to reach to see whether learning objectives are being achieved to provide records for schools to provide information to parents

An English global product

The British Council, 2008 The United Kingdoms international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a charity.

Module 2 Assessment activities

Which assessment activity?
Here are some classroom activities the teacher can collect assessment information from. Match the assessment activities in the box to the correct example.

Assessment activity open comprehension question multiple choice

true/false cloze

matching sentence completion

sentence transformation

Example Mount Everest is the . mountain in the world. (a) higher (b) highest (c) most high It was a . day. The sun was . The air was . and the sea was .. We decided to go for a The sun moves around the earth. I dont know why it happened, she said. She said . She woke up so late she . The train. fair thin tall dark fat short Where did the family go on holiday?

Assessment activity

An English global product

The British Council, 2008 The United Kingdoms international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a charity.

Module 2 Assessment activities

Which assessment activity? Answer sheet
Here are some classroom activities the teacher can collect assessment information from. Match the assessment activities in the box to the correct example Assessment activity open comprehension question multiple choice

true/false cloze

matching sentence completion

sentence transformation

Example Mount Everest is the . mountain in the world. (a) higher (b) highest (c) most high

Assessment activity Multiple choice

It was a . day. The sun was . The air was . and cloze the sea was .. We decided to go for a The sun moves around the earth. I dont know why it happened, she said. She said . She woke up so late she . The train. fair thin tall dark fat short Where did the family go on holiday? True/false Sentence transformation Sentence completion

Matching Open comprehension question

An English global product

The British Council, 2008 The United Kingdoms international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a charity.

Module 2 Assessment activities

Formal vs. informal assessment
Assessment can be either formal or informal. Look at the following words. Which ones do you associate with formal, which with informal? Are there any which can be applied to both?

Standardised Self-assessment Subjective Certificates Score Projects Portfolio Objective Report Grade

An English global product

The British Council, 2008 The United Kingdoms international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a charity.

Module 2 Assessment activities

Formal vs informal assessment - answers
Some differences in answers are quite possible. Be ready to accept alternative answers if they are well justified. Likely to be formal Standardized Certificates Objective

Likely to be informal Self-assessment informal Subjective informal

Could be both Score usually formal, but may be used in informal assessment depending on the task type Projects usually associated with informal, but learners in some countries can be formally assessed on project work Portfolio same case as for projects Report usually associated with formal assessment, but reports can sometimes accompany informal assessments Grade formal associations but may also be given by some teachers in informal assessment

An English global product

The British Council, 2008 The United Kingdoms international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a charity.

Module 2 Assessment activities

Why use informal and formal assessment activities?
Look at the table of different methods of classroom-based assessment and assessment out of class. Consider possible pros and cons of each method of assessment, and then compare ideas with your colleagues. When How Pros Asking learners about activities they likes/dislike, strengths weaknesses in English Cons

In class

Observing learners as they do classroom activities

Informal testing

Formal testing

Out of class

Marking homework

Formal testing

An English global product

The British Council, 2008 The United Kingdoms international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a charity.

Module 2 Assessment activities

Why use informal and formal assessment activities? suggested answers
Look at the table of different methods of classroom-based assessment and assessment out of class. Consider possible pros and cons of each method of assessment, and then compare ideas with your colleagues. When How Asking learners about activities they likes/dislike, strengths weaknesses in English Observing learners as they do classroom activities Pros First-hand information from learners can reveal unexpected and useful information Showing an interest in learners in this may help to o create a productive environment for learning Practical: integrating assessment with teaching in this way is time-efficient, and in learners interests, as it means that learning time is not taken up by formal assessment Cons Some learners may not want to give opinions in front of classmates Some learners may say what they think the teacher wants to hear Record keeping (e.g. using band descriptors, or a pupil profile grid) may take time at first Its usually possible to form an impression of only a few learners in any one observation. The teacher needs therefore to be organised enough to look at different learners in each lesson May put others off May eat up time that could be more usefully employed in learning. Pencil and paper tests do not tally with how younger children tend to learn (i.e. through social activities in which language is embedded, rather than in solo pencil and paper tests) Can be time-consuming to mark, chase up absences etc

In class

Informal testing Formal testing

May motivate some learners May prepare learners for content and format of exams they need to take

Marking homework Out of class

Homework may help learners to consolidate language learned in class/CB Assessing learners

An English global product

The British Council, 2008 The United Kingdoms international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a charity.

Module 2 Assessment activities

writing skills as well as their helps the teacher to form a rounded picture of the learners abilities Formal testing Same advantages as formal testing class Some learners may under perform due to nervousness.

An English global product

The British Council, 2008 The United Kingdoms international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a charity.