Assessment Plan

Students at Tokyo High School are required to take 2 semesters of foreign language

learning, and Japanese is one of their options. There are 30 students of ages between 16 and 18 in

Japanese I, and the class requires no Japanese background. Approximately 70% of the students

are Caucasian students whose primary language is English, and the rest are African-American,

Latino/a, Chinese, Korean, and Indian. Some students are bilingual of language other than

English, so they can have advanced language learning abilities. There are also some students

with special needs, including learning disabilities, require the implantation of accommodations,

such as extra time to complete a task, visual supplements, explicit instructions, and structured

instructions (e.g., reminders and stable scheduling). However, these accommodations can be

beneficial for all students because they are all language learners of Japanese.

In language learning classes, assessments often bring many students anxiety. Students

are also more likely to study for tests, but not for their own learning. In order to encourage

students to learn their target language meaningfully, it is important to provide students

opportunities to express what they have learned in diverse ways rather than only in traditional

ways (e.g., paper and pencil tests or papers). It is also necessary to discuss the purposes of

assessments including identifying where students are at and what abilities they have, and

improving my own teaching using the data from the use of assessments. There are two types of

assessments I will use: formative and summative assessments. I will use formative assessments

regularly in order to monitor student learning, recognize students’ strengths, and address their

struggles. These assessments include teacher observations, writing samples, mini-quizzes,

activities, and discussions. Teacher observations, discussions, and activities are used primarily in

order to check students’ learning and provide immediate feedback. It is then significant to plan
lessons carefully in order for these assessment types to be used purposefully. For example, after

students learn new grammar, I need to make a quick decision about students’ mastery of the

specific grammar. In this case, I will have students demonstrate how to apply this knowledge by

discussing how and when the grammar is used or by working on a task-based activity, if I focus

on their capability of using the grammar. If I focus on their writing or reading skills, writing

samples or quizzes will be appropriate. Therefore, it is significant for me to plan lessons

carefully in order to consider how and what students need to be able to do before teaching a

specific lesson. I will use summative assessments as a tool to evaluate what students have been

able to do through the semester or school year. At the end of each semester, students will take a

final test. They will select three tasks from the list of task-based activities: introducing

themselves, evaluating the Japanese course, creating an invitation, and identifying an item by

reading provided hints. Since students have choices, they can design their own way of expressing

what they have learned. Students are also allowed to make a decision about how they want to

perform their knowledge. They can prepare for a ten-minute presentation, take a paper-and-

pencil test, or create a poster. All students need to demonstrate their own learning, but in their

comfortable way.

Although I believe that my assessment plan is practical and fair to students, there is

always a way to improve. If this plan does not work for students, I will have students take a

quick survey and get feedback about how to improve assessments. Assessments are a tool for

teachers to identify the individual student’s abilities and readiness. However, assessments also

need to be a tool for students to recognize what they have learned and what they have been able

to do in the target language. Therefore, students’ voices need to be heard when assessments need

to be altered.