Language Assessment Issues

Language Assessment:An Overview of Principles and Issues Helen Huntley Senior English Language Fellow Ministry of Education, Vietnam helenshuntley@yahoo.com http://helenshuntley.com...

Language Assessment:

An Overview of Principles and

Issues

Helen Huntley Senior English Language Fellow

Ministry of Education, Vietnam

helenshuntley@yahoo.com http://helenshuntley.com

Part I

 What is meant by ‘assessment’?

 What are the traditional/alternative methods of

assessment?

 What are the basic principles of assessment?

 How does washback influence the curriculum?

Learners’ motivation etc.?

Part II

 What role does assessment have in language teaching

in Vietnam?

 What kind of assessment best suits Vietnam?

 What are the testing issues in Vietnam?

Part I

Assessment can…

progress.

work.

curriculum.

self-evaluation of their progress.

Brown, D.H (2004) Language assessment: Principles and classroom practices Longman.

Curriculum and Assessment

“Assessment is an integral part of the

entire curriculum cycle, not something tacked on as an afterthought to

teaching.”

Coombe, C., Folse, K., & Hubley, N (2007) Assessing English Language Learners Univ of Michigan Press.

Evaluation

 All the factors that influence the

teaching/learning process

Assessment

 A variety of ways of collecting information on

a learner’s ability or achievement

Testing

 One type of assessment: a formal, systematic way to gather information about students’

behavior

Assessment Options

conferences peer assessments

portfolios

written assignment oral presentation

‘can do’ checklists

observations

What is a test?

A measurement of a person’s

“A test is a method of measuring a

person’s ability or knowledge in a given domain”

Brown, D.H (2001) Teaching by principles Longman.

Types of Tests

placement To place students at appropriate level of

instruction within a program

diagnostic To identify students’ strengths and

weaknesses

progress To provide information about mastery of

the course materials

achievement To evaluate students’ attainment of

course outcomes at end of course

standardized To measure students’ proficiency using

international standards

aptitude To measure capacity for learning a

language

Traditional assessment

 One-shot standardized exams

 Timed, multiple-choice format

 Decontextualized test items

 Scores suffice for feedback

 Norm-referenced scores

 Focus on the “right” answer

 Summative

 Oriented to the product

 Non-interactive performance

 Fosters extrinsic motivation

 Formal, indirect, traditional

 Objective

 Focused on linguistic/logical-mathematical intelligence

Adapted from Armstrong (1994) and Bailey (1998) in Brown, D.H (2001)

Alternative assessment

 Continuous long-term assessment

 Untimed, free-response format

 Contextualized, integrative, communicative tasks

 Interactive feedback

 Criterion-referenced scores

 Formative

 Oriented to process

 Interactive performance

 Fosters intrinsic motivation

 Informal, direct, authentic

 Subjective

 Computer-based/computer-adaptive

 Inclusive of multiple intelligences (spatial, musical, bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal)

Adapted from Armstrong (1994) and Bailey (1998) in Brown, D.H (2001)

Guiding Principles of Assessment

 Usefulness

 Validity: face, content, construct, concurrent, consequential

predictive

 Reliability

 Practicality

 Positive washback

 Authenticity

 Transparency

 Security

 Interactivity

 the effect of testing on teaching and

learning(including curriculum and materials)

 best kind of assessment has a positive effect

on how well students learn

 ‘good’ washback relates the test content and tasks to the target environment of language use

 ‘bad’ washback can lead to ‘teaching to the test’ > loss of focus on learning

Part II

Assessment of English in Vietnam

English can be assessed in the:

classroom school region country AND/OR worldwide > international benchmarking

Local Focus or International

Benchmark

Should assessment:

 use an international proficiency test?

 be linked to a specific course?

 be linked to student standards and teacher standards?

 focus on the assumed future study needs of students?

 be discipline-specific?

Which English?

 Does international benchmarking presuppose one form of English as ‘correct’?

 Do international benchmarked tests ‘own’

English?

 Which variety(ies) of English is/are

acceptable?

Standardized Tests

 Standard objectives or criteria held constant across one form of the test to another

 Designed to apply to a broad band of competencies not necessarily linked to a particular curriculum

 Produced through extensive research and

development

 Dictates standard procedures for administration and scoring

 Norm-referenced: places test-takers on a continuum across a range of scores; differentiates test-takers by relative ranking

High Stakes Testing Issues

 Despite high probabilities of accurately assessing test-takers, what about the minority who are not fairly

assessed?

 Should more types of performance be included to get

a more comprehensive picture of the test-taker

(speaking, writing)?

 Does the high-stakes test negatively impact learners’ lives?

 Is teaching driven by the test?

 Does standardized testing promote a specific cultural, political, or social agenda?

Ongoing Issues: the Vietnamese

Situation

 Combining graduation and university entrance exams

 Addition of ‘communicative’ elements into tests

 The relationship between the curriculum and the test

 The match of textbooks to test content

 Teacher training and testing

 Discrete items or linked items in test content

 Longer test vs shorter test

 Standard test administrative procedures

 Technology in testing

 Others????

Any comments or questions??