KPE1409 LANGUAGE ASSESSMENT (4 Credits)

Course Objective
Students will acquire knowledge and skills on language assessment which covers designing, developing, implementing, and analyzing assessment.

Course Contents
Emphasis on aspects of assessment: 1. Principles of language assessment: practicality, validity, reliability, and authenticity, 2. Test methods: multiple choice, short answer, cloze test, gap filling, etc. 3. Assessing language skills (listening, speaking, reading, writing) and language components (grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation), 4. Scoring, grading, level of difficulty, discrimination power.

Learning Activities
Lecturing Discussion Presentation (test design & development practices)

Course Requirements:
Students are expected to read the textbooks, and prepare with some ideas on assessment when attending classes. Students are working in groups to design, develop, present, and analyze tests.

Evaluation
Group assignments and presentations (test design and development) 20% Mid-term examination 30% Final examination 50%

References
Bachman, L.F., and Palmer, A.S. 1996. Language Testing in Practice: Designing and Developing Useful Language Tests. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Brown, H. D. 2004. Language Assessment: Principles and Classroom Practices. New York: Longman. Heaton, J.B. 1991. Writing English Language Tests. London: Longman. Hughes, A. 2003. Testing for Language Teachers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Meeting 1 Introduction: Teaching, Assessing, and Testing

Should all teaching involve assessment or test?

 Assessment & Tests

TEST??? Unpleasant Anxious Nervous Doubtful

Should all teaching involve assessment or test?

Teachers want to know

How did the learners performance compare to previous performance? Which aspects of the performance were better than others? How does ones performance compare to that of others in the same learning community? Is the learner performing up to an accepted potential?

ASSESSMENT

Relationship among teaching, assessment, and tests

(Brown, 2004:3)

 What is assessment? What is a test? What is an evaluation? What is a measurement?

EVALUATION based on

Examining information about many components of the things being evaluated, and comparing or judging its quality, worth and effectiveness in order to make decision.
The process of gathering, describing, or quantifying information about performance.

ASSESSMENT includes

MEASUREMENT through TESTING

The process of assigning numbers to qualities or characteristics of an object or person according to some rules or scales and analyzing that data based on psychometric and statistical theory.
A method used to measure the level of achievement or performance. (Zimmaro, 2004:4)

Testing
A test is a method of measuring a person's ability, knowledge, or performance in a given domain (Brown, 2004:3) A method: it is an instrument - a set of techniques, procedures, or items that requires performance on the part of the testtaker (MC, question scripts, scoring rubric, etc.).

Test vs. Assessment

Tests are prepared-administrative procedure that occur at identifiable times in a curriculum when learners muster (bring together) all their faculties (abilities) to offer peak performance, knowing that their responses are being measured and evaluated (Brown, 2004:3).

Assessment
Assessment is an ongoing process that encompasses a much wider domain. Whenever a student responds to a question, offers a comment, or tries out a new word or structure, the teacher subconsciously makes an assessment of the student's performance (Brown, 2004:3).

ASSESSMENT

KINDS
FORMAL INFORMAL

FUNCTIONS

FORMATIVE

SUMMATIVE

Kinds of Assessment
Informal Assessment: it can take a number of forms, starting with incidental, unplanned comments and responses, along with coaching and other impromptu feedback to the student. Formal Assessment: are exercises or procedures specifically designed to tap into a storehouse of skills and knowledge. They are systematic, planned sampling techniques constructed to give teacher and student an appraisal of students achievement.
Is formal assessment the same as a test?

 All tests are formal assessments, but not all formal assessment is testing. A student's journal or portfolio of materials showing the attainment of certain course objectives, assessment or tests. A systematic set of observations of a student's frequency of oral participation in class assessment or tests.

Test and Assessment

Tests, then, are a subset of assessment; they are certainly not the only form of assessment that a teacher can make. Tests can be useful devices, but they are only one among many procedures and tasks that teachers can ultimately use to assess students.

The Function of an Assessment

Formative Assessment: evaluating students in the process of forming their competencies and skills with the goal of helping them to continue that growth process. The key to such formation is the delivery (by the teacher) and internalization (by the student) of appropriate feedback on performance, with an eye toward the future continuation (or formation) of learning.

 Informal assessments are formative. They have as their primary focus the ongoing development of the learner's language (a comment or a suggestion, or call attention to an error, that feedback is offered in order to improve the learner's language ability.

 Summative Assessment: aims to measure, or summarize, what a student has grasped, and typically occurs at the end of a course or unit of instruction. A summation of what a student has learned implies looking back and taking stock of how well that student has accomplished objectives, but does not necessarily point the way to future progress. Final exams in a course and general proficiency exams are examples of summative assessment.

 Tests are summative assessment. Implication:

"Whew! I'm glad that's over. Now I don't have to remember that stuff anymore!

ASSESSMENT

KINDS
FORMAL INFORMAL

FUNCTIONS

FORMATIVE

SUMMATIVE

NEXT WEEK
Designing classroom language test: some practical steps to test construction, test types. READING:
Brown, H. D. 2004. Language Assessment: Principles and Classroom Practices. Ch. 3