Amy Mardis

World Language Methods

EDUC 688 107 Spring Semester
Professor Thomasina White
7 March 2017
Assignment #4

Pg. 440, Episode One

In Chapter 11 (Assessing Standards-Based Language Performance in Context)

authors Shrum and Gislan discuss the paradigm shift taking place in foreign language

assessment practices. The French test shown in Episode One is considered traditional

because it follows many elements of the old paradigm of assessment practices discussed in

the chapter. Specifically, the test evaluates the learners foreign language skills in a manner

that is void of context and that does not reflect situations or challenges that learners will

experience outside of the classroom.

Each section of this test is considered decontextualized because the tasks that the

students are asked to complete have no meaning in a real-world scenario. Students will never

be asked to simply translate a numerical value to French in isolation. Instead, as the new

paradigm suggests, students could be tested on their knowledge of numerical values in French

by using the numbers in a meaningful context, such as a shopping scenario. Similarly, the

fill-in-the-blank conjugation exercises are decontextualized because the sentences are

disconnected from each other. The result is that the assessment is unnatural and

contrived (pg. 401) and does not prepare the learner for authentic language use.

Because each section of the test is only measuring one ability at a time (direct

translation of numbers, conjugation, and direct translation of single words), the test is not

actually assessing a students ability to perform in a presentational or interpersonal setting.

Furthermore, the test is not providing the teacher with an accurate assessment of the students
full range of language abilities. An assessment in a dynamic context, on the other hand,

would empower the student to be creative in their language use and to showcase their

knowledge and skills through multiple opportunities. Such an assessment would be much

more valuable to both the learner and the teacher. The learner would be receiving real-time

feedback and would be applying their knowledge to real world situations. As a result, the

teacher would be able to see a much larger and more accurate range of the learners language

abilities.

Based on this test it appears as though the test designer is not making the connection

between French language standards and Standards-Based competencies. While the test may

very well address some of the necessary standards, the test designer has not connected the

standards to a language competency or purposeful use. In other words, the test does not

test what students can do with the language. This suggests that the teacher is equipping

students with a language education that will be useless to them as soon as they leave the

classroom.