Assessing Young Learners Issues to consider while assessing young learners Age: Motor, language, conceptual and social

development Content of language learning: skills, vocabulary, language use at discourse level Methods of teaching: games, songs, stories to carry language content and practice. Aims of language learning: social, cross-cultural and language learning aims Learning theories: ZPD, social interaction The social realities of assessment England: the government introduced a national curriculum and assessment at ages 7, 11 and 14 with baseline assessment at the age of 5, school entry. Parents and teachers began to protest at the stress being felt by seven year old children and ask for a review of assessment procedures. Malaysia: 6-year grammar exam From age 7, pupils are tested every month every term, every year. The marks are used in some schools to place children in different groups within a class. Global scale: a new test for young learners developed by UCLES 150. 000 students were expected to take the exam in 2000. Although the test assesses a child progress rather than awarding a pass/fail, parents often want to know whether their child has passed. Testing has become a multimillion-dollar global business in which the need for internationally recognized certification of language proficiency works with their learners or their parents understandable demands to see proof of the outcomes of their struggle to learn and the money they have invested in it. Wash-back effects of testing Negative Stress is placed on children by the demands of assessment Individual childrens learning needs are downgraded in the push to cover the syllabus or course book before the next assessment Classroom activity is restricted to test preparation Educational change is limited by the power of the assessment machinery Positive Attention to neglected aspects of learning (i.e.: oral language) The effectiveness of policy, methodology, instruction, and materials can be seen.

Classroom realities By far the most frequently used method of assessment is paper and pencil test; testing single items of vocabulary and grammar through single sentences. Very few of the tests that were reported focused on spontaneous speaking, it seems that what was assessed was what was relatively easy to assess. In schools and classrooms, because it is much more difficult to devise and mark oral assessments fairly, most assessment is still carried out on paper.

Principles for assessing childrens language learning Assessment should be seen from a learning-centered perspective (Vygotsky: we cannot get a true assessment by testing what the child can do alone) Assessment should support learning and teaching (the process and outcomes of assessment can motivate learners; an assessment activity can be a language use model, assessment activity and feedback from it can support further learning, the outcomes of assessment can help teachers plan more effective lessons and can inform the evaluation and improvement of courses and programs). Assessment is more than testing: The test results do not reflect the big picture. Assessment should be congruent (in harmony) with learning; interactional rather than isolated. Children & parents should understand assessment issues: Parents need to know what teachers are doing and why.

Key Concepts in Assessment Assessment testing - evaluation: Evaluation is the process of systematically collecting information in order to make judgments. Formative (on-going) and Summative (end result) assessment Diagnostic (how much can be done for further learning) tests and achievement (what can a learner do) tests Criterion- referenced (expected response) and norm-referenced (comparing) assessment Validity (do we assess what we want to?) Reliability (scoring, numerical marks) Fairness (rating and scoring)

Teacher assessment of language learning Assessing in relation to goals Selecting an assessment focus Assessment by observation (systematic) Creating opportunities for assessment during classroom activities Record keeping (checklists)

Alternative techniques of assessment for Young learners Non-verbal response (for silent period) Oral interview (using visual clues) Role-play Written narratives Presentations Student-teacher conference: structured- interviews. Self-assessment: A pupil who learns to assess his or her own work moves from being otherregulated to self-regulated or autonomous. K-W-L Charts (Know, Wonder, Learn) Learning Logs Dialogue Journals Peer and group assessment Student portfolios

Making feedback helpful to learners Corrective feedback: to correct their language use- accuracy; not only pointing out errors but also showing why it is incorrect Evaluative feedback: judgment on the pupils performance Strategic feedback: advice on what to do to improve the performance

Adapted from: Cameron, L. (2001). Teaching languages to young learners. Cambridge University Press. Linse, T. C. (2005). Practical English Language Teaching: Young Learners. McGraw Hill: NY. Shaaban, K. (2005). Assessment of young learners. English Teaching Forum, 43 (1), pp. 34-40.