Introduction to Language Assessment

Introduction
Lesson 1
o Overview
o Sample Test
o Definitions
o Review and Reflect
Lesson 2
Lesson 3
Lesson 4
Conclusion
Portfolio
Resources
Overview
In teaching languages, teachers often have to measure students' language abilities, which they achieve by
developing tests or quizzes or through more informal methods. In addition, they often select commercially-developed
tests for use in their classrooms or language programs. In order to feel confident and comfortable with assessment,
this module will present different methods of assessing language as well as strategies for practice in the classroom.

as/as-01-01-overview.xml
Introducing the basics of language assessment.
Duration: 02:00


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Yue said...
Assessment is of vital importance to both students and teachers. It tells instructors how many students have
already achieved learning goals, who are the students struggling with their learning, and which activities or methods
are more helpful than others.
Definitions
There are many ways to talk about methods of assessing language. In this module, the distinction between indirect
and direct methods will be used. These methods are both common in language testing, often used for different skills
or in different kinds of classes. Indirect methods may be more common in assessing reading, listening, vocabulary or
grammar and in classes that are large. Direct assessment works well for productive skills such as writing or speaking
and provides a better picture of what students can do with the language.

as/as-01-03-definitions.xml
Two methods of assessing language: direct and indirect.
Duration: 01:14


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Constructed-response questions are tasks in which test takers create an answer in a productive way. For example,
writing a sentence or being interviewed might be constructed response tasks.
Direct assessment tries to measure what a test taker is doing as a sample of productive language. For example,
having students discuss a topic while the teacher observers and rates their performances would be a direct
assessment.
Indirect assessment tries to measure language through means that are not directly productive. For example, indirect
assessment might ask students to recognize the correct verb form, but not actually measure their ability to produce it
or use it.
Item is often used to talk about test questions, particularly questions that ask for short answers or selected
responding.
Performance assessment includes tasks in which test takers provide a sample of language, such as a written text or
spoken interview, that elicits the ability being measured.
Selected-response items are test questions in which test takers choose a correct answer from a list of provided
options. Multiple choice questions are common selected-response items. These are also usually considered objective
as there should be one correct answer.
Multiple Choice
Indirect assessment tries to assess the abilities that underlie the skills we are measuring and often uses items where
the student selects a response, rather than constructing their own. One common kind of question used in indirect
assessment is multiple-choice or binary questions (True/False), such as parts 1 and 4 of the sample test.
Advantages of Multiple Choice
Before watching the video, think about why teachers use multiple choice questions.

as/as-02-01-mc-1.xml
Language teachers discuss the advantages of multiple choice tests.
Duration: 02:29


To summarize, multiple choice tests have some advantages which include:
easy to score,
increase reliability,
may lower test anxiety,
requires little instruction, and
manageable for beginning learners who can't produce a lot.
Disadvantages of Multiple Choice
Having considered the advantages, let's consider what could be problematic about multiple-choice questions.
Before watching the video, think of several disadvantages of these test questions.

as/as-02-01-mc-2.xml
Language teachers consider the disadvantages of multiple choice questions.
Duration: 01:51


There are a number of problems in using multiple choice questions, some of which follow:
only assesses recognition of language,
limited inferences about language possible,
inauthentic to real language use,
students can guess the answers, and
writing successful multiple choice questions is difficult.
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Fill-in-the-Blank
Another common type of question is the fill-in-the blank item. In the sample test, Part 5 included these items. They
are often found in assessment of grammar and vocabulary. While they do require students to produce language,
which is different from multiple-choice questions, they are rather inauthentic in terms of language use.
Advantages of Fill-in-the-Blank

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Language teachers discuss advantages of using fill-in-the-blank questions in assessing language.
Duration: 00:23


Some of the advantages to fill-in-the-blank include:
high reliability,
easier to write, and
limits guessing.
Disadvantages of Fill-in-the-Blank
Although they may have advantages, there are a number of problems with fill-in the blank questions.

as/as-02-02-fib-2.xml
Language teachers discuss the problems in using fill-in-the-blank questions.
Duration: 03:23


Some of the disadvantages with these kind of questions are that
they are harder to score,
numerous possible correct answers may exist,
what is being measured is hard to define,
takes more time for students to complete them, and
they are not communicative.
Cloze test is a kind of fill-in-the-blank, where the second half of a word is taken out. It may also be systematic. For
example, the second half of every second word is deleted.
A word bank is a list of words that students can use in activities, such as completing fill-in-the-blank sentences.

Direct Assessment
Direct assessment of language allows teachers to see students using language in context, through tasks that require
performance of language. Direct assessment is often used in measuring speaking or writing. Examples of direct
assessment might include presentations, interviews, writing summaries, or portfolios. On the sample test, Part 8
"Timed Writing" is an example of direct assessment.
Advantages of Direct Assessment
Before watching the video, think about what the advantages are for direct assessment in language testing.

as/as-03-01-direct-1.xml
Language teachers talk about the advantages of using direct methods in assessing language.
Duration: 02:05


Direct assessment is often preferred for assessing language for a number of reasons:
increased potential for communicative interaction,
better evidence for language use,
more motivating for students, and
more authenticity.
Disadvantages of Direct Assessment

as/as-03-01-direct-2.xml
Language teachers consider weaknesses in using direct assessment.
Duration: 03:31


Some problems with direct assessment include:
performance anxiety,
some inauthenticity in interview structure,
time-consuming to conduct and score, and
difficulty in finding the best method for scoring.
Language Level
Several challenges exist for teachers using direct assessment in language classrooms; however, given the popularity
of this method, solutions have been proposed. Three challenges: language level, feedback, and score
interpretation, will be discussed along with solutions to help teachers overcome them.
The first challenge is using direct assessment with low proficiency students. For these students, producing the
language can be difficult and limited. Tasks in direct assessment may be complex and confusing to complete. The
teachers' feedback may not be clear if given in the first language, and as novice language learners, students may not
know how to improve based on the teacher's feedback.
Have you ever given a test where the students didn't follow the instructions? Why do you think it happened? Think of
some solutions to these potential problems.

as/as-03-02-level.xml
Managing students' low language levels when using direct assessment.
Duration: 04:20


Some solutions to help beginning level students with direct assessment follow:
use L1 in instructions and feedback,
write clear or familiar tasks,
prior to the assessment let student practice or model the task, and
only ask for short performances.
Feedback
Another challenge in direct assessment is scoring and giving meaningful feedback to students on their performance.
Certainly, compared to grading multiple-choice questions, direct assessment takes more time to score. Also, the
scoring and feedback needs to be considered carefully because it will be more subjective than selected-response
questions. The teacher needs a clear idea of what they are measuring in the performance, and students should be
given feedback that they can understand.

as/as-03-03-feedback-1.xml
Making feedback clear and manageable in direct assessment.
Duration: 03:42


Some ways to provide better feedback in direct assessment include:
using a scoring rubric,
sharing the rubric with students before the test,
having students use the rubric to rate their own or peers performance,
having students design the rubric, and
rating selectively rather than providing feedback on everything.
Rubrics
Rubrics or scales are commonly used in direct assessment. Teachers may design their own rubrics, have students
develop them, or adapt rubrics found elsewhere. It is important to be very conscious of the criteria and language
features in a rubric. They should match what has been covered in the class and what you think language is. If points
are given for each feature in the rubric, analytic scoring, this distribution should make sense.
Analytic scoring is when the rating is divided across language features and each is given a separate score. For
example, vocabulary, fluency, content, and grammar are each given a number of points.
Holistic scoring is when a performance is given one score overall and the teacher is not looking at separate features
of language in the performance.
A rubric is a tool used to score assessment that provides teachers with areas to focus their evaluation.
Score Interpretation
The third challenge in direct assessment is more difficult to solve. Because this method requires language use, many
factors can impact the learner's performance that the teacher is not trying to measure. For example, creativity,
nervousness, or personality traits can impact a performance.
Before watching the video, think of some ways to solve this problem.

as/as-03-04-score.xml
How to lower anxiety in direct assessment in order to see students' performance levels.
Duration: 01:53


To help assure the scores from direct assessment are about language performance, teachers may try the following:
allow students to practice or warm-up before the test,
limit time pressure,
give choices when possible,
pilot tasks carefully,
isolate skills if desired, and
collect multiple measures.
Validity
In order to decide what methods to use in assessment, it is important to clarify what you are trying to assess. While
there are numerous methods to assess language, what you want to measure will determine how you assess
students.
For example, is the assessment about the ability to use certain phrases appropriately in a situation? Or the
comprehension of written text in a foreign language? Or progress toward the course goals?
Think about how you would define each of these three terms:
measurement
evidence
inference

as/as-04-01-validity.xml
The concept of validity.
Duration: 05:50
Validity in language assessment refers to how well the inferences we can make from the results of our measure
match the construct or feature of language that we want to measure.
Reliability
The validity of inferences made depend on the assessment having a degree of reliability. Reliability could be
described as the consistency of an assessment. It can be internal (the questions in the test) or external (the context
of the testing situation). In large scale testing, reliability is a major issue, but it also holds relevance in the classroom.
What are some ways to increase the reliability of assessments you use in the classroom?

as/as-04-02-reliability.xml
A definition reliability in terms of issues for classroom assessment.
Duration: 02:19
Assessment for Learning
Assessment for Learning (AfL) is the idea that learners should be part of the the assessment process. It includes
building learner's awareness of their progress in learning and encourages peer and self-assessment. Students may
be asked to help design tests or the rubrics for scoring. They may also provide their classmates with suggestions and
support. Assessment for Learning helps students evaluate their strengths and areas of needed improvement.
In an article by Chappuis and Stiggins (2002), three key components of Assessment for Learning are discussed:
Student involved assessment. Students are not passive in the assessment process but are engaged in
developing the assessment, determining what a good performance entails, and learning to score through models
provided by the teacher.
Effective teacher feedback. Teachers are the models for students to learn what is important in their
performance. So feedback should be clear, descriptive, and illustrated for students. Students need guidance in
giving their peers feedback as well as in evaluating themselves. This goal is grounded in the teacher modeling
effective feedback.
The skills of self-assessment. AfL should lead to self-directed learning, which requires learners evaluate
themselves. This skill is not easy and requires guidance from the teacher. Students should be asked to think
about their goals, their current ability, and how to work from one to the other. Feedback and self-assessment are
critical parts of this process.
What is the difference between assessment of learning and assessment forlearning?

as/as-04-03-conclusion.xml
Key ideas in assessment for learning and benefits of this approach.
Duration: 02:37
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.
Instructor's Final Comments
During my first several years as a language teacher, I became really sick of tests, and would have been very
surprised that I have since become a specialist in this area. I felt particularly frustrated by the power that
examinations held over my students' motivation and goals. Slowly I came to realize that the more I knew about testing
and how to develop and use assessment in meaningful ways, the less I felt this struggle. When I think of assessment
as more than "the final exam", I can see opportunities for learning and for uses that improve teachers' understanding
of their students and that can be motivating to students. My hope is that this module helps teachers understand the
usefulness of assessment for their classroom purposes and gives them an informed voice in decisions made with
assessments."