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Assessment of young English language learners - Coggle Diagram
Assessment of young English language learners
The purpose of assessment is to find out individual learners' current standing in a learning domain (Masters, 2014)
Various uses
readiness checking
diagnosis
placement
selection
certification
Historical perspectives
ESL/content based contexts
Part of national standards-based educational system
Schools are accountable for reaching minimum standands --> assessment subjected to close scrutiny
Learning domain and progression is chartered using a learning ladder
CLIL
True integration of language and content is still rare nd remains a major issue in both instruction and assessment
Lack of clear policy decisions on assessment. Scarcity of assessment tools
Assessment should be planned before any teaching takes place
Cognitively appropriate instructional tasks:
Challenging but not too frustrating
Graded in terms of difficulty
Provide individual feedback
Formative developmental assessments
Graded mini-assessments of each building block
Final assessment: progression in tackling similar content and tasks aimed at one learning goal
EFL contexts
large-scale international assessment for YLhave appear only in the last 35 (38) years
Tests for YL tend to measure the four skills and contain items and task types similar to tests developed for adults
Authentic direct test of performance have the highest fidelity to the real world and greater relevance to Ls' lives
The weighting of restricted and constructed items in a test for YL shoul be dictated by the purposes for which test results are used
Critical issues and topics
Validity
Approprite for its purpose
Catalyst for curricular, instructional change and improves learning
Allows to show that cadidates have the required knowledge, understanding and skills
Allows interpretation from scores to be meaningful, useful, appropriate and justifiable
Impact
How well it motivates Ls to learn English
How well it prepares them for the next level of study
Reliability
How much confidence users have in the results
Children are easily distracted and affected by physical and mental variations --> collect data from YL at severa different occasions and in several different ways from several sources
Do not punish unexpected but clearly ingenious responses
Ethics
Assessment is in the children's best interest
Does it allow equal opportunities to learning and access to assessment
Does it attend to matters of diversity and individual difference?
Does it allows children voices to be heard?
Recommendations for practice
Good assessment for YL
Justify what knowledge, skills and abilities are assessed and the intended purpose of test use
The centrality of concept formation, critical thinking and problem solving through language should take priority
Balance cognitive challenge with the right amount of support
Helps learners prepare for the 'real world'
Assessment literacy
Crucial aspect of teacher training and professional development
Build confidence among techers in designing/selecting assessments that are valid, reliable, fit for purpose and have positive consequences for YL
May help tackle negative emotions, views and attitudes towards assessment
Coherent educational framework
There should be tight coherence in curriculum, assessment and teacher professional development
Risk of overestimating feasible attainment levels within a given timeframe
Future directions/research
Attainable targets of achievement by age groups in various contexts
YLs' progression in social and instructional target language use domains
Technical qualities of YLs' tests
In-depth impact studies in specific contexts to investigate: 1. Learner and teachers motivation 2. Link between educational aims, curricula, teacher and assessment
Assessing valued outcomes
The view of desirable outcomes to be measured is constantly changing
Competencies identified fo assessment in the future
Collaborative problem solving
Creativity
Concept formation
Learning to learn skills
Computer literacy