Learning to teach ESL: January 2019

One of the readings we were assigned this week is a chapter in Brown and Rice (2015) called "Classroom-Based Assessment." The chapter is about designing tests that are valid and adhere to pedagogy principles and measure authentic uses of language. It also discusses other types of assessments (e.g. self-assessment and portfolio-based assessment) that demonstrate student learning.

One of the concepts that resonated with me was the use of criterion-based tests. These tests are used to provide students with feedback about their abilities to achieve lesson and course objectives. A quote by Jamieson (2011) states that these tests help teachers to "target feedback...to reinforce successful learning and to identify learning errors and misconceptions" (quoted in Brown and Rice, 2015, p. 515). The authors explain that one of the ways that criterion-based tests accomplish this is by evoking performance related to specific criteria or course objectives (Brown and Lee, 2015).

This concept resonated with me because it presents tests in a different way than they usually are presented. Throughout my school experiences, tests were something that I mostly feared. They produced a lot of anxiety because the consequences of failing were severe and I often did not feel prepared for them even after I spent weeks studying for them. I recall one time during university when I took a statistics course. When my instructor passed us the exams, she projected a countdown clock on the screen in front of us. I was so anxious about this that my mind went completely blank and I was unable to write the test. As a result of this experience, I empathize with students everywhere who feel overwhelmed by the need to perform when taking tests.

I see this a lot with the students in the ESL classroom. Students panic when the teacher mentions that they will be tested soon on their ability to use language skills. The teacher explains that it is not a bad thing and that the testing will be on things they have recently done and have practiced many times. However, the concept of tests themselves seems to cause anxiety, regardless of culture. The concept of criterion-based tests has helped me realize that I have misunderstood tests and their purpose. They allow teachers to check in with their students and ensure that their teaching methods are effective. These tests also allow teachers to pinpoint students' strengths to help build their confidence and to identify learning opportunities to target common errors and misconceptions while encouraging students to continue learning outside of the classroom. As such, tests can be incredibly important tools for teachers and test-takers.

Another idea that resonated with me was that teachers should ensure that the tests that they design actually elicit the performance of the criteria and objectives that they are trying to assess. The authors suggest that teachers list everything that students should know or be able to do before designing a test. This ensures that the test questions accurately reflect the material in the curriculum that students are responsible for knowing. It also prevents students from complaining after a test that they did not understand the connections between what was covered in class and the questions in the test (Brown and Lee, 2015).

This idea resonated with me because it reflects my own language-learning experiences. Even though I enjoyed taking a university-level Spanish class as a part of my undergrad degree program, I struggled a lot with the tests. We were given study guides that were detailed. However, I felt like the guides did not really prepare me for the tests because the questions were presented in different ways than they were in class lectures and activities. While the vocabulary words and sentence forms were consistent with what we learned in class, it seemed that my instructor was trying to avoid repetition. As such, it seemed like she used them in different ways to ensure that we were challenged and could actually apply what we learned in class. Some of my classmates succeeded in achieving high scores while others like me were left confused.

In my own teaching, I want to ensure that the testing that I conduct is meaningful without being too challenging for my students. The purpose of testing is to measure learning and to assess whether objectives are being met. As such, the purpose is not to confuse students or present them with what they have learned in a new context that they have not seen during lessons. I also want to be able to find a balance in how often I conduct tests so they are not overdone but are still able to provide feedback about how I can best support my students and their learning.

References

Brown, H. D., & Lee, H. (2015). Classroom-Based Assessment. In Teaching by principles: An interactive approach to language pedagogy (4th ed., pp. 513-538). White Plains, NY: Pearson Education.

Jamieson, J. (2011). Assessment of Classroom Language Learning. In E. Hinkel (Ed.), Handbook of Research in Second Language Teaching and Learning (Vol. 2, pp. 768-785). New York, NY: Routledge.

Public Domain. (2018, December 21). Bad Grade [Digital image]. Retrieved from https://openclipart.org/detail/312115/bad-grade

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One of the readings that we were assigned this week was a chapter called “Using Assessment to Promote Learning” by authors Leung et al (2017). The chapter is based on material that was presented in a symposium and includes a discussion of assessment developments around the world. One of the developments that is discussed is about the approach of using assessment for learning in New Zealand. The authors explain that the new approach is student-focused and is used as a means to improve teaching and testing. The new approach was also a shift from the use of summative assessments or evaluations to measure the level of language retention of students to the use of ongoing assessments to measure learning in relation to the goals established using previous needs assessments. The authors point out that the use of summative assessments had led to students using rote-learnt responses rather than an authentic and unrehearsed use of language with their peers. However, even after instructors shifted towards the use of informal assessments and encouraging interaction in the classroom, students would still prepare for assessments by practicing scripts and adding language features to make their responses sound more authentic (Leung et al, 2017).

This material gave me a lot to think about. In particular, I was drawn to the way that students perceived assessments. Students continued to view assessments as a reflection of their abilities and intelligence even after the shift to using informal assessments. Rather than practicing their language in the classroom, students focused on perfecting their use of language because they were afraid of saying something wrong. I was drawn to this description because it applies to both my volunteering experiences with adult learners when they doubt themselves after making mistakes and my own experiences trying to learn language. When students know that they are being or will be tested, their efforts turn to learning to write the test instead of learning to learn. Learning to write the test involves learning specific language features that will appear on the test while learning to learn involves learning to improve language skills for the purpose of achieving goals. My own experiences trying to learn Spanish was similar. When I did not have much time, my focus was on trying to guess what would be on the test and learning the material that would prepare me to write the test. As a university-level language course, we worked on improving all four language skills, but our achievement was primarily based on the grades that we received on tests. While this is unfortunate, it is understandable since it can be difficult to measure skill level and knowledge as a whole. Informal assessments in the classroom are very useful for providing feedback to students and understanding their strengths and weaknesses. However, this information is not important to the university or to the stakeholders and donors of language learning programs since their interest lies in the overall effectiveness of the programs.

As a result, it can be difficult not to rely on formal assessments when examining the language skills and knowledge of students when stakeholders like administrative staff and the government place higher value on data from this kind of assessment. It can also be difficult to explain the differences between formal and informal assessments with students and how their scoring does not reflect the overall value of them as people. I am not sure how I would explain the use of assessments to students to help them understand the purposes of assessments and how learning language is an ongoing process where students progress at different rates. I know that I will make an effort to teach students learning strategies so that they can continue learning outside of the classroom. Teaching students how to learn for the purpose of learning is much more important and useful than learning to take a test.

References

Leung, C., Davison, C., East, M., Evans, M., Liu, Y., Hamp-Lyons, L., & Purpura, J. E. (2018). Using Assessment to Promote Learning: Clarifying Constructs, Theories, and Practices. In J. Davis, J. M. Norris, M. E. Malone, T. H. McKay, & Y. Son (Eds.), Useful Assessment and Evaluation in Language Education. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.

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