Monitoring and assessing learning Warm-up Answer as many questions asyou can in five minutes. Revision test 1 How is the future continuous formed? 2 Which form is best, and why? a Ah, where's my diary? oh, yes, here it is. I thought so, I'm meeting /I'll meet Laura on the 14th. b People will buy/are buying books only from the internet in a few years, c who do you think willwin/ are winningihe football match tonight? 3 What things would a learner need to know about new vocabulary items? 4 Write some concept checking questions for the grammatical pattern in bold: I'm going to go to the shop. Is there anything you want? 5 How can a teacher help to keep learners motivated? Reasons to test learners Work in groups. Explain why the test may be taking place in the following testing situations. a A course director is expecting an intake of 100 students. They will all sit a test on the first morning of the course, b A teacher has a new class. In the second lesson she decides to give the class a short test, c A teacher has taught 50 hours of a 100-hour course. He decides to give the class a test, d A class is very near the end of their course. In the penultimate lesson they will have a test. Work in small groups. Discuss the reasons teachers test learners. Are there disadvantages to testing learners? Ways of testing Study the table and answer the questions. Which test types: a test individual language items? b test language items in combination? c test knowledge about language? d test language use? e can be marked objectively? f require subjective marking criteria? 24 Monitoring and assessing learning Test types Examples Multiple-choice questions I'm....................to see Zoe tomorrow. a) gone b)go c) going djwent Gap-fill exercises She's very intelligent and Hove....................accent. Sentence transformations The shop sold the last copy of the book yesterday. The last copy of the book............................................................................. Writing a composition Vou see the following job advert in a newspaper. Write a letter of application. Oral interviews Learners are shown pictures and describe them orally. Matching Learners read a text and match pictures to the appropriate parts. Sentence production Learners write sentences about themselves using a given structure, such as used to + infinitive. Which of the test types in activity O could be used to test the following areas? • receptive skills • productive skills • vocabulary and grammar Work in groups. Decide what features make one learner's spoken language better than another's. For example: • One learner may use a wider range of vocabulary than another. Now design some criteria by which you can assess performance in an oral test given to a group of learners. Use the table below to help you. A B C Range of vocabulary and structures A good range of vocabulary and structures An adequate range of vocabulary and structures An inadequate range of vocabulary and structures to communicate effectively Fluency Accuracy (including pronunciation) Communication strategies B Classroom teaching S How not to test Read the learners' complaints. Complete the sentences explaining the problem with the test design in each case. :v.;;; ■-■:■.■••■■■'■ ■■ <■:■ ^w.r-y;-----.. ■•- •■ ■.■■ . ■■. . ,,,■■. .;:.-;v,. The instructions just said 'fill the gaps' - so I did and got nearly all of the questions wrong Éil If -!' ■ ■ ■•' '■ :'."":: ::'■ Ä; í,,:iŕ '■..■■■■.■■ a Instructions need ... The course was all about listening and speaking and I really liked it - but at the end we had to do a writing test and I didn't do very well. -^feC/;.'' b The content of the test should ... I got the test back from the teacher and I hadn't done very well. I was the worst in the class. The teacher just wrote 'You must work harder' at the bottom but I was working quite hard. c Feedback should be ... 1 Analysing a test i Read the test on page 109. It comes at the end of a unit of an intermediate coursebook. What things do you think have been taught in the unit? 2 1 Do you think the writers of the test intended it to be done in an informal way, or more formally, more like an exam? 2 Would you ask the learners to do this test individually or in groups? 3 Do you like the type of questions that are asked? 4 Are there any sections that you would change? 108 24 Monitoring and assessing learnin í fmfa* of h) • Traost stay in loraglu. ;-3^U«k eft '''^Pak täj&tWp things people usually do ; inthelptchan W two things you might do this j 3; two things people often do :':'. when they're at school or university, d) two things you don't like «0 yonr anmrera should jbwtnd« phraaes with do. Cutting Edge (Intermediate) Cunningham and Moor 109 B Classroom teaching B Other ways of monitoring progress Read about other ways of monitoring learners' progress and answer the questions. Then compare ideas with a partner. 1 In each case, who does the assessing, the learner or the teacher? 2 Are all the ideas practical? 3 Whose idea do you like best and why? 4 Whose idea do you like least and why? a Shaun řve-ru h-sso-n is a-n cppcrf-w-wi-faj- -per feacM&rs to assess kow well itidiviďmls are pro»ressi-*i». I-p ■flow mo-niter wkftt leWH&rs SOW a-vui do dbse-far, yt&U wi££ K-how i-p fWe-jc are m^o'-n» progress. b Laura I asK learners +o Keep a learning diany - +hevj mate a -few notes a-f+er each lesson sapina wha+ the^ thought +he aim of the lesson was, what +he\) learned, how much +he^ understood and whether the^ liked it Evers) now and +hen X +aKe +he diaries in and see how the learners +hinK the^ are doing c Kirsty I sivo \c-arnerc, a Hit of what wc-Vc c/onc in da« and ne-jtt -to e-ath -thm^+he*! have- -fhrce- coiww; — 'conftdesrV, 'ok-' and 'n«